


Way Back When

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Azkaban, Brotherly Love, But He Gets Better, F/M, France - Freeform, OFC has an interesting family, Patronus Charm, Racism, Sirius is a good bro, Tom is kinda evil to start, Trials, Unbreakable Vow, are French people real?, but some murderers are good bros, on the lam from the law, prison break - Freeform, some people are less good bros, some people are murderers, takes place before Hagrid was expelled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-13 14:03:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 48
Words: 127,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13572096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Tom Riddle wasn't always the evil Lord Voldemort. He once attended Hogwarts, and aced his classes, and had many friends, and even fell in love. Unfortunately, the object of his affections is a filthy mudblood. But there's something about her that's different than anyone he's ever met. Will she be able to turn him away from the dark path he's heading down?





	1. Chapter 1

Tom smiled tightly, making it obvious that he just wanted to be done with the conversation already. It was atrociously boring, and he had much better things to do with his free time than talk to Vanessa Guard. She just kept yammering on and on, and Tom couldn’t help thinking that perhaps all girls were this chatty and gossipy and over all annoying.

When Vanessa paused for a moment to take a deep gulp of air, Tom held up one hand so she wouldn’t speak again. He gave her an apologetic glance (not that he was sorry at all to be leaving her company) and stood up. “I’m very sorry, but I completely forgot that I made an appointment with Professor Slughorn. It would be so very rude to keep him waiting.” It was a lie, but a very good one. Everyone knew how much Slughorn coveted Tom.

She nodded. “Of course. Have a pleasant meeting. She held out one hand. “Until next time.”

He took her hand in his and pressed it lightly to his lips, in proper gentlemanly form. “Until next time.” And he took his leave. As soon as he was far enough away from the library, he stopped. He had no reason to visit the professor at this time, and began to head back to the Slytherin common room.

On his way, he bumped into his best friend, Sirius Lestrange. He smirked knowingly. “The women of this school just won’t leave the handsome blokes like ourselves alone, will they? Marie was just telling me how she would name her first child Sirius after me. Isn’t that ridiculous? We’re fifteen, not nearly old enough to have children.”

Tom grinned. “But from that statement, it would seem you do indeed intend to have Marie bear your children.”

Sirius’s face flushed. “Well, we work well together. And even if I’m lucky to say two words to her all day, I can’t help liking her. How are things with Vanessa?”

Tom waved his hands in a bored manner. “She’s one of the most monotonous and boring girls I’ve ever met. She thinks that being a pure blood will automatically make me like her.”

Sirius nodded. He understood that many girls didn’t have anything to make them date-worthy beyond their bloodlines. His family was one of the most well known and respected pure blood families around, and he knew that his parents intended to keep it that way. He also knew that his friend would never even give other muggle borns or half bloods a second glance, so girls assumed he would love a pure blood.

“Where did you tell her you were headed?”

Tom smiled. “To our favorite professor.”

Sirius nodded again. He had met Tom when they had both been invited to join the potions teacher’s little ‘slug club’. Sirius had immediately seen that Tom was not the type of person to be taken lightly, and also that the boy made a very good leader. So even though he was a year older, he looked up to the fellow Slytherin, and they had soon become good friends, or as close to friends as one could get with Tom.

“Well, if she ever comes running my way, I’ll be sure to back your story. In fact, I was probably even at this meeting with you. After all, it would be wrong for our friendly professor to play favorites among the favorites. And I would never tell a lie, especially not to precious Vanessa.”

Tom rolled his eyes as he nodded his approval. “Where are you headed off to?”

Sirius blushed a little, something that Tom wasn’t used to seeing on his friend’s face. “Just heading down to the library to do some research.”

Tom shook his head. “Vanessa’s probably still in the library. Find somewhere else to do your research.”

Sirius was a little hurt that his friend didn’t even ask him what was so important, but he just shrugged. It was pretty much impossible to get Tom concerned about anything that didn’t involve him. “Alright, I’ll avoid the library.” And he left.

Tom continued walking through the dungeons until he got to the entrance of the common rooms. He said the password, and entered the spacious room decorated with dark green furniture. He went into the room he shared with four other boys, and sat down on his four poster bed. 

Vanessa was pretty enough, in an overwhelmingly fake way. Everything from the way she laughed to how much makeup she wore screamed desperation. And she was always making moves on Tom. He tried his best to be polite. After all, it would blemish his reputation if he was caught screaming obscenities at a girl. 

She always leaned forward just a little too much for his comfort. He almost wished that she was a mudblood, because then he would have an excuse to blow her off. He pulled his diary out of the trunk at the foot of his bed and flipped open to the next blank page.

But he couldn’t really think of anything that he wanted to write, so he just stared at the blank page for a minute. He thought about how cool it would be if the words he was think would just write themselves. But somehow, even in a magical school that was not possible.

He closed the book and returned it to his storage space. He didn’t have many possessions in his trunk, he wasn’t exactly rich. All the things he bought were paid for by a small school stipend. He flopped back on his bed and closed his eyes. Sometimes it could be so tiring to keep up the charade of pretending to care about people who clearly expected him to care.

Before he realized it, he nodded off. He woke up from his nap a few hours later, and saw the the room was still empty even though it was starting to get dark out. None of his roommates wanted to risk disturbing him, since they were all frightened of him, at least a little, or they respected him. Tom was never sure which.

He decided that a significant enough amount of time had passed for him to tell Vanessa that he had gone to see Slughorn if he bumped into her again, though of course he hoped that that wouldn’t happen. Tom decided to go for a walk. It wasn’t like he had anything particularly important to do. Being a model student, he had already finished all his homework, and he didn’t have any meetings or appointments he needed to get to.

He left the dungeons, and went outside. The late evening air was chilly, and he pulled his robes tighter around himself. He strolled by the quidditch fields with a frown. Despite being perfect at everything else, the magical sport had always been the one thing he could never get the hang of. Perhaps it came from his muggle father’s side.

He heard a shout coming from just outside the stadium, and he jogged over. He almost tripped over the girl laying sprawled on the ground, her legs twisted at a funny angle. Her breathing was labored, and her eyes were fluttering to stay open. He knelt down next to her, and saw the large hole in her robes, with a dark stain that was slowly growing larger.

He slipped off his robes, and was wearing his uniform underneath. He pressed the cloth to the wound, and the girl gasped. He shook his head when she weakly tried to push him away. “What are you doing out here alone?”

She gulped, and had to take a deep breath every few words that made her wince. “It was… a dare… they said that… I wouldn’t be able… to fly… I wanted to… prove them wrong… I guess I was the one… who was wrong…”

Tom looked over and saw the splintered broom that was laying a few feet away. He shook his head again. This was why girls weren’t allowed to play quidditch. Because they didn’t have the natural ability to fly the way that certain males did. “That was a stupid move.” But he knew that he would have done the same if anyone had ever told him there was something that he couldn’t do.

She nodded. “I know that… but I couldn’t… just let them laugh… I thought I could… do it…”

Tom sighed. “Am I supposed to just leave you to go get some help? I’m not confident that I can properly heal you without making things any worse.”

She winced again when he pressed down harder on the injury. “S’okay… I trust you…”

Tom shrugged. He thought that was very foolish of her, but he wasn’t going to argue. He could carry her inside, to the infirmary, but that could result in jostling her and making things worse. He took a deep breath, and pulled out his wand. He felt the familiar warmth that he always felt when he was about to do some magic.

He held the wand steadily just over the wound, and said the words to the most effective healing spell that he knew. He watched as the skin seemed to knit itself back together, though the blood was still spilled, and there was a lot of it. He wasn’t sure quite what was wrong with her legs, and since she looked ready to pass out, he didn’t want to mess things up. But now that she wasn’t freely bleeding, he could bring her in.

Tom slipped the wand back into his pocket, and gently scooped her up, one arm under her knees and one supporting her neck. She was surprisingly light, so he was able to jog back to the school. Her breathing was shallow, and she was clearly in pain, though he was surprised that she hadn’t passed out yet.

As soon as he burst inside, he shouted for the few students wandering around to go get help, as he continued to make his way to the infirmary. The first person to catch up to Tom was Professor Dumbledore, the boy’s least favorite teacher.

The older man offered to carry the girl. Hesitantly, Tom began to hand her over. But she was clutching his shirt tightly, and wouldn’t let go. He continued at his brisk pace until he got to the infirmary. He gently deposited her onto an empty cot and tugged away from her grip. The nurse hurried over, and pushed Tom aside so that she could get to work. 

Dumbledore looked at him with an unreadable expression. “What happened?”

Tom turned to face the teacher. “I was talking a walk, and I heard someone shout.” He realized that if he said the girl had been trying to fly a broomstick (which she had no doubt taken from the shed without permission) she would get in a lot of trouble. “She was in the high end of the bleachers, searching for something she left behind during yesterday’s game, and in the dark, she fell over the railing.”

Dumbledore nodded slowly. “I see. Well, why don’t you head outside and gather her things?”

Tom nodded, and hurried away. He had the strangest feeling that the old man could read his mind. He glanced down, and noticed with dismay that there was a scarlet stain on his shirt. That was an annoyance. But he shuddered to think what would have happened if he hadn’t been out. She probably wouldn’t have been found until morning, and by then…

Whatever. It’s not like some random girl was any of his business. He hurried back to the spot where he had found her. There was the broken broom. He waved his wand at the pieces, and they disappeared. As he turned away, he saw a glint from the corner of his eye. He bent down, and picked up a silver headband. It was very fancy, and looked more like a tiara. 

It seemed very valuable, even though it was small, and he slipped it into his pocket. He would return it to the girl when he got a chance, and ask her what it was. It clearly had magic infused in it, and he was curious. Tom went back inside (it was probably Dumbledore who had left the doors unlocked) and headed to the dungeon. He was exhausted, and was asleep almost immediately.


	2. Chapter 2

Tom stretched and sat up as the sun filtered through the window and onto his face. He didn’t really mind, though. He wanted a chance to get to the library before Vanessa showed up. She knew that Tom frequented the place, and was often there to look for him. But he wasn’t interested in talking to her today (not that he was ever interested in talking to her).

He quietly opened his trunk, not wanting to wake up his roommates. They could be greedy bastards sometimes, and he didn’t want them to get any ideas about the headband. He slipped it into his pocket after he was dressed, and made his way to the library. He slipped in (it wasn’t locked, so he would qualify that as open) and realized that he had no idea where to even begin.

The band in his pocket was obviously some kind of magical artifact or something, so he wanted to find out more about it before returning it to its owner. But he didn’t know what books would be more helpful. He ended up gathering a large stack, mostly about different magical items, and brought them back to his favorite table. By the time he had dropped the stack down with a loud thunk, the librarian had already arrived.

He frowned, but didn’t say anything. He knew that Tom wasn’t there to cause trouble, and he wouldn’t be loud and whiny like some of the other students, so he allowed the boy to stay. But he knew that he should report it if he found the boy breaking in early again. Tom grabbed the top book and began to flip through it.

It was mostly about various cursed objects, so he grabbed the next book. He soon lost track of time, and a couple hours passed as he pored over the books. As he couldn’t find anything on the headband, he wanted to know about it even more. There was always the possibility that the girl had been the one to infuse it with magic, but he doubted that. The band clearly had an old feel to it. He could always ask the girl herself about its origins, but then she would want it back.

He groaned when he heard the familiar clacking of Vanessa’s outrageously impractical shoes. She peered over the tower of books that was blocking him from view, and grinned. 

“Oh, Tom, I was just looking for you.”

He smiled charmingly. “Really? What’s the occasion?”

She giggled, actually giggled, and Tom felt the urge to cast a spell that would permanently shut her mouth. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that without attracting attention to himself. “Well, I was told by Donovan Vecky to fetch you. Apparently it’s an impromptu prefects meeting.”

Tom sighed. He wasn’t sure why he had such a fascination with this headband, but he knew that he wanted to find out what it was. But his duty as a prefect won over his curiosity, and he curtly nodded. “Where?”

It wasn’t often that a meeting was called for all the prefects. There were twenty-four of them total, three boys and three girls from each house. But generally they stayed inter-house. She made those ridiculous moony eyes at him. “In the Great Hall.”

“Thank you for informing me.” He got up and left. Any excuse to leave Vanessa was okay with him. He hurried to the Great Hall, thinking about the purpose of the meeting. He entered, and saw only a few others already inside. Good, he wasn’t late. He went over to the Slytherin table and sat down a few seats away from the other two Slytherin prefects that were already there.

About ten more minutes passed before all the prefects were present, and then a few professors entered the large room, followed by Headmaster Dippet. The headmaster stood at his podium and cleared his throat. “I know you are all wondering why you have been gathered here. It’s because we need your help. There has been an attack on a student-” There was a flurry of whispers among the present students, but Dippet ignored them. “-and this student was greatly injured. Due to the nature of this… crime… we are afraid that other students may be next. We look to you to watch over your peers where we can not.”

After a moment of silence, and the prefects were shouting out questions, and none of them could be heard over the others. Tom just sat there quietly. Who had been attacked? And why? Dippet waved his arm to silence the curious students. “I’m afraid that I can’t say much else, for the safety of the student involved. You are all dismissed.”

As the students filed out, Tom noticed the headmaster smiling at him. He wanted to smirk. That guy was an ignorant fool, and Tom had no idea how he even got the job as headmaster. Now Professor Dumbledore on the other hand, he would make a pretty good principal.

Tom shivered. He wouldn’t want to be a prefect under Dumbledore. Tom left with the rest, and started to head back to the library. Then he thought of Vanessa waiting there for him, and decided that he’d rather not see her again so soon. Before he thought about it, he was heading to the infirmary.

It wouldn’t hurt to check on the girl, to make sure that she was alright. He didn’t necessarily have to mention that he found her crown. And if he happened to spot the student who had been attacked, well that wouldn’t really be his fault. When he got to the sick room, he saw with slight irritation that there was a teacher standing guard.

But they couldn’t stop him from checking on the girl whose life he saved, could they? He approached the teacher cautiously. “Professor Dinwerd. I was wondering if I could see the girl that I brought in last night, to make sure she’s okay.”

The professor hesitated, then sighed. He knew that Tom was a responsible trustworthy kid, and he opened the door to let the boy enter. Tom felt the eyes on his back, so he walked straight over to the bed with the girl on it.

He internally winced when he saw her. In the light of day, she looked much worse than she had last night, especially now that the nurse had done so much to patch her up. She had a black eye, casts around both of her legs, a bandage wrapped over her wrist, and lots of smaller bruises and cuts.

She was sitting up, leaned back against a couple of pillows. She turned her head a little bit to look at him, and smiled. “Hey mysterious-boy-who-saved-my-life.”

“I just wanted to see if you’re alright.”

She laughed. “I am, thanks to you. They said that I’m very lucky you were out last night.” She shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if no one found me until this morning. So, do you have a name, oh-mighty-savior-of-mine?”

Tom smiled tightly. How could she be sitting there laughing and smiling when she was so injured? Then he frowned. There was no one else occupying the infirmary, so where had the put the person who was attacked? And why would there be someone guarding the door if the attacked person was somewhere else?

“What were you doing out so late last night?”

She mimicked his frown. “Unless I was delirious, I thought I told you last night that I was,” she lowered her voice, “trying to fly on a broom.”

He wasn’t sure whether he believed that or not. “Tom Riddle.”

“What?”

“You asked my name, it’s Tom Riddle.”

She smiled. “Oh, ha, sorry. I’m a little stupid sometimes. I’m Susanna Matheus. Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine. You look pretty beat up for someone who fell off their broom.”

Susanna’s face flushed a little. “You’re persistent, aren’t you? I fell from over a hundred feet up.”

Tom shook his head. “That kind of fall would have killed you.”

Susanna rolled her eyes. “Why would I make up a story that could potentially get me into a lot of trouble if you tell anyone?”

Tom shrugged. “There are many reasons for someone to make something up. But what I want is a reason for you tell the truth. I’m just some random guy who happened to find you after a rough… fall. Of course you have no reason to trust me.”

Susanna sighed. “Jeez… The headmaster told me not to tell anyone, okay? They don’t want word spreading about… what happened.”

Tom smiled kindly. “I am a prefect. We’ve already been told about the attack.”

Susanna’s eyes widened a little. She took a deep breath. “Alright. The truth is, I wasn’t lying when I said that I was told I wouldn’t be able to fly a broom, so I decided to try. I did fall a couple of times, but it was nothing serious. Then, around the fifth fall, I was suddenly surrounded as soon as I hit the ground. A bunch of guys, but they were all wearing hoods over their faces. They said that I was stupid to ever believe that a girl and a… well they said it was stupid for me to actually think I could fly. They said that I needed punishment for breaking the rules.” Her voice broke, and she took a moment to regain her thoughts. “That broom, I bought it with my own money. I worked hard and saved up, and I know it’s not the best broom out there, but it was mine. They broke it… over my head.”

Tom nodded. It seemed like a terrible situation, but not the kind of thing that the teachers would have to worry about getting repeated. “Why is everyone so concerned that it could happen again?” When she didn’t say anything, Tom continued. “If we’re going to stop these guys, I need to know.”

She sighed. Without saying another word, Susanna began to pull up the bottom of her shirt. Tom watched curiously, but he didn’t say anything either. His eyes widened when he saw what she was showing him. It must have been the injury that was bleeding so much last night. He had healed it, knowing it would leave a scar with that spell, but he hadn’t known that it would be such an awful scar.

It spelled out mudblood across her stomach, in rough letters. Tom reached over and pulled her shirt back down. If he had known last night what she was, would he have even bothered to help? He turned and left, not wanting to see the muggle born girl any longer. He hadn’t really thought about the bloodline of the random girl as he was saving her, but he now wished that he had.

He despised muggle born wizards, and while it was true that his own father was a wizard, he pretty much told anyone who was curious that he was a pureblood, and they weren’t going to argue with him. So the girl had been attacked because she was a mudblood. While he wasn’t exactly opposed to that, those methods were so messy. To leave behind a potential witness, these guys were sloppy.

Tom sighed. He wondered who had attacked the girl, and he wondered why he even cared at all. If they were free, they could continue attacking mudbloods. And if they were ever caught, it would actually have nothing to do with Tom. But even as a chuckle passed his lips, he saw the pitiful picture of a broken girl, deep blue eyes staring at him, full of emotion.

He shrugged it aside. It was pointless to think of her now. To let a mudblood take up any space in his thoughts should be a crime. As he walked, he felt the small weight of the band each time he stepped forward and it hit his leg. Now that he knew what the girl was, he wouldn’t even feel guilty for holding onto her headband for a while longer. He wondered how something so obviously expensive had found its way into her hands.


	3. Chapter 3

Tom frowned. It wasn’t often that he couldn’t focus on his studies. But what disturbed him the most was what he was focusing on instead. In his mind, he kept seeing those pitiful blue eyes staring up at him, and it was most distressing. Tom would never lose his head over a girl, especially not a filthy mudblood.

As soon as class was over, he was out of the room like a shot. He decided that it was the tiara thing. He couldn’t find out anything about it no matter how much he searched. And since it was hers, it made sense to him that she would hold the answers. So he decided to head to the infirmary and question her about the band. And once he was done talking to her, he would be able to get those eyes out of his head.

So he strolled to the infirmary once the band was safely tucked in his pocket. There was a different teacher standing guard at the door than earlier, and this one let him in without a word. He chuckled at the stupidity of the professors. He walked in, and to his dismay, there was another boy sitting in the chair next to the bed, and both of them were laughing.

That strange feeling in the pit of his stomach must be annoyance. He had come all the way here, to see a mudblood no less, and she didn’t even have the courtesy to be available to answer all his questions. He walked over silently, to hear what they were laughing about.

The boy gasped for breath. “And then… and then she said, ‘Let them all be ducks if they want to’!” Susanna was laughing so hard there were tears streaming down her face. Her laugh was interesting. All the girls who tried to catch Tom’s romantic attention had tiny little giggles, like they were afraid of being too loud. But Susanna didn’t seem to care about her deep peals of laughter. It sounded more real than any laugh Tom had ever heard before.

She finally looked up and saw Tom, and he found his eyes inexplicably drawn to the lingering grin. Her smile widened, and she hit her friend gently in the arm so he would turn to see where she was looking. “That’s him, the one who saved me.”

The boy stood up and held out his hand to Tom with a formal air. He nodded gratefully. “So you’re Tom Riddle.” Tom noticed the boy’s eyes flit to the colors of his robes, and his face wrinkled in dismay. “Thank you so much for saving Susanna.”

Tom nodded stiffly, and shook the boy’s hand. “I’m sorry, you know me, but I’m afraid I’m at a disadvantage.”

Susanna laughed again. “Geez, Henry, you’re so impolite.” She looked at Tom. “He’s my older brother, Henry.”

“I see.” Tom didn’t like that feeling of relief that swirled in his gut. There was nothing to be relieved about. He smiled at Henry. “Could I perhaps speak to your sister alone for a moment?”

Henry crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. “Are you kidding me? After what happened, how could you possibly expect me to leave her alone with some stranger?”

Susanna chucked a pillow at her brother, and it clocked him square in the back. “Come on, Henry. He saved my life, and he’s a prefect. What more do you want?”

Henry sighed, and knelt down next to the bed so that he could whisper to Susanna. “I’ll be right outside. If anything happens, and I mean anything, me and the professor will be in here before you can even say ‘hippogriff’. Do you understand?”

Susanna nodded, her face a mixture of curiosity, relief, and a little bit of annoyance. “Yes, I understand. Now scat. We have super important things to discuss.”

Once the door closed behind the older boy, Susanna groaned. “You would not believe how much he’s been mother henning me. I think I might die from being smothered by my own brother.”

Tom shrugged. He had no siblings, but he had seen the relationships between the others at the orphanage, and he was fairly certain that he knew how siblings were supposed to be. Constantly fighting and bickering, but if anything happened to one of them, the other would go into a very protective mode. “He’s your brother, it’s expected.”

He was a little curious about the odds of having two mudbloods being born into a muggle family, since he had never heard of such a thing before. It was usually only one. Susanna nodded. “I know, I just like to give him a hard time about it.” She stared at Tom for a moment before lowering her voice. “Honestly, earlier you left so abruptly after seeing my new scar, I thought that maybe… since you’re in Slytherin… you’re one of those who doesn’t like muggle borns.”

Tom couldn’t think of a single honest response to that. And he was pretty sure that telling her he did hate mudbloods wasn’t going to give her incentive to open up to him anytime soon, and the band was aggravating him. So he just shook his head, and gave her one of his typical charming grins. “Of course not. I was just so shocked, that someone would do something so terrible.”

Susanna shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. But really, who cares in the end, right? The point is that I’m perfectly fine, so let those cowardly losers who wouldn’t even show their faces think that they’re so great. They’re not.”

Tom nodded. He wanted to warn her to be careful who she said that to, because if she actually called the perpetrators cowards to their faces, they would be pissed off. But he had a feeling that she wouldn’t listen even if he did tell her. So he moved on to the main point of coming here again. He pulled the band out of his pocket, and her eyes widened immediately.

“I found this when I went out to clear up the… mess.” He didn’t have to tell her when. “It’s obviously some kind of magical artifact. What is it exactly, though?”

Susanna looked at him with a little bit of suspicion in her eyes. After a pause, she cleared her throat. “I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. It’s just an old family heirloom, passed down for generations. When I turned eleven, my grandmother gave it to me. She said that it’s supposed to bring intelligence and wisdom to the wearer.” She snorted. “Clearly that’s not true at all. Would an intelligent and wise girl be off trying to fly around in the middle of the night? I don’t think so.” She reached out to grab it. “Thanks for returning it, though.”

Tom wanted to clutch the thing as tight as he could, and not let go, but he couldn’t do that without looking like he wanted to straight up steal it. He reluctantly let go, and Susanna gave him a strange look. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

He laughed. “I always look pale. That’s what I get for never going outside when I was younger.”

Susanna just stared at him, and he suddenly felt very self conscious, and that was not a sensation that he enjoyed at all. He slowly began to back away, and Susanna frowned. “Where are you going?”

Tom shrugged. “I’ve never really like hospitals, or anything associated with them. They kind of freak me out. And if I stick around for too long, I might vomit.”

He expected her to flinch at the mention of puke, like most normal girls would, but she just stared at him. “Uh huh.” Tom turned and had to force himself not to run out into the hallway like a madman. He opened the infirmary doors, and stepped past Henry and the professor, who were in the middle of what appeared to be a riveting conversation.

As soon as the boy saw the prefect exit the infirmary, he rushed back inside, not wanting to leave his sister alone while she was vulnerable. Tom gave the professor a nod, and began to head back to the Slytherin common room. Once he was inside, he spotted Sirius, and pulled the older boy aside. He stared at the other students in the room until the got the message and scrambled away. “Lestrange. Do you know anything about the mudblood attack?”

Sirius glanced at Tom, seemingly checking his reaction before speaking. “That depends.”

Tom smirked. “On what?”

Sirius grinned. “On whether you’re okay with it or not. But I figure, you hate mudbloods as much as us, so we’re really doing you a favor when you think about it.”

Tom cocked his head to the side. “‘Us’? Who else was involved?”

Sirius didn’t back away from the frightening look, even though most people would. He ticked off his fingers as he listed names. “Well, there’s me, Avery, Rosier, Mulciber, Nott, and Dolohov. And we were very careful. There’s no way that anyone saw us, and we have alibis if anyone should ask, which they wouldn’t dare.”

Tom patted the other student on the back. “How gracious of you.” He grabbed Sirius’s wrist and squeezed tight enough to leave a bruise later. He pulled the boy closer so that he could whisper into his ear. “Don’t do it again. It was a sloppy and poor example of the power of purebloods. It was an act that made you all look like cowards who couldn’t even face one small girl without a group that is six to one.” 

Sirius gulped. “Of course it won’t happen again. Just tell us how to do this right, please Tom. You can’t just leave us with no way of doing anything. And she’ll be fine, if that’s what you’re worried about. Once the nurse is through with her, she won’t have a single mark left.”

Tom knew that wasn’t true. The healing spell he had used would definitely leave a scar, it already had, and he knew that there were no spells to counteract it. She would have the defacing scar for the rest of her life. Not that Tom cared. Of course not. Why would he care about some stupid mudblood and her stupid scars?

He released Sirius, not wanting to actually injure him. “Of course. Don’t you worry about that. I have a plan.”

Tom looked around the deserted common room, and decided he didn’t want to stick around there. He popped into his room to grab the book he had been reading. And then he left, and went to Professor Slughorn’s office, hoping that the potions teacher would be there. To Tom’s delight, he was there. He saw the the professor was alone, and put on his best smile. “Professor Slughorn.”

The chubby man turned around, and his face split into a grin when he spotted his star pupil. “Ah, Tom. How good to see you. I actually wanted to talk to you, you know.”

Tom raised one eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yes. Hang on a moment.” The teacher held up one hand to gesture for Tom to stay where he was, and not to go anywhere. Tom obliged. The man rummaged around on his desk for a few minutes before procuring the item he was searching for. When he found it, he picked it up and turned back to face Tom with a victorious expression. “Ah ha! Here it is?”

“What is it, sir?” Tom asked, his voice laced with amusement.

“It’s your essay, the one that your class had to turn in last week. I found the topic of yours to be rather fascinating. How did you choose it?”

Tom glanced at the title of the parchment, and remembered it clearly. He had written his essay on the theory that there could possibly be a potion capable of restoring a person’s soul, even if said person has already torn it to pieces. “Sir, I’m not quite sure. I was just reading about certain magical items that caught my interest. And you said that we could write anything as long as it involves potions.”

Slughorn laughed. “I know that, no need to get so defensive. I was only curious because it was the best written essay in the entire class, maybe the best that I’ve read in years. So I wanted to let you know something. I’m having a party in a few weeks. Nothing fancy, mind you, just a few talented students such as yourself. It could be a wonderful opportunity for you to meet others as brilliant as you, though I’m sure you think that may not be possible. All you need to do is come to my office during dinner instead of going to the Great Hall. I’ll send an owl closer to the date with more details. That is, if you’re interested?” He peered at Tom hopefully.

The prefect smiled. “Of course I would be delighted to attend any gathering where you are the host.”

Slughorn nodded with satisfaction. “Well then, I’ll see you next class.”

Tom nodded and left. He hadn’t had anything in particular to say anyways, so it didn’t matter that he had been so thoroughly sidetracked. He had heard about the so called ‘slug club’ where the potions master would invite an elite group of students to join him. And Slughorn was a knowledgeable man with many connections, so staying on his good side could end up being a very good thing. He walked down the hallway with a smirk, and he only thought about those unforgettable eyes once (well, maybe two, possibly three times, but hey, who’s counting?).


	4. Chapter 4

Tom was sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, eating dinner. He looked up when a bunch of the Slytherins suddenly got very quiet. The doors opened, and there were two students, getting there a little late. As they got closer, he saw that it was Susanna, and she was leaning heavily on another girl in Ravenclaw robes, with big glasses and long brown pigtails.

He hadn’t noticed before that Susanna was wearing Ravenclaw robes. Probably because it had been dark out when he first rescued her, and when he saw her in the infirmary, she was wearing pajamas. But now he could see the blue collar of her robes. The pair walked passed the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables, getting to their destination in twice as much time as it would normally take.

Susanna’s eyes met his for a moment as she sat down, with assistance from her friend, and she smiled. He looked away, and jumped back into the conversation his friends were having. He noticed her frown out of the corner of his eye, but decided to ignore it. Even if he was only staying on friendly terms with her to preserve his reputation as a prefect and model student, he didn’t need to rub that in the faces of his friends.

Sirius gave him and strange look, and turned to see whatever Tom had been focused on. He spotted the newcomers, and his eyes narrowed. Tom ignored Sirius’s unspoken question, pretending to be deep in a conversation about how much stuff could be stored in a container that had an undetectable extension spell on it. 

The other boy looked like he really wanted to say something else, but decided that it wasn’t worth it to argue with the Prince of Slytherin house. He began to stop paying attention to the conversation again, and he cast a silent spell to enhance his hearing. He began to listen to Susanna’s conversation. 

“-told you. Myrtle, he saved my life.”

The plainer looking girl sniffed. “I still don’t trust him. Not after what happened. All Slytherins are suspects.”

Susanna shook her head patiently. “There are purebloods in other houses too, and for that matter, there could be half bloods who don’t like muggle borns, or other muggle borns, even. Using your theory, everyone in this entire room is a suspect.”

Myrtle frowned. “So it’s just coincidence that he was taking a late night stroll right past where you were lying there injured? And he just happened to use a spell that makes that scar permanent?”

Susanna sighed. “Myrtle, will you just drop it already? I told you, he saved my life. He even gave me back the diadem. Would someone who hates me give that back? Even if they don’t know what it is, it is obviously valuable just for the jewels alone.”

Myrtle snorted. “That thing again. What were you thinking? That some stuffy old crown would protect you? What if you had fallen and broke your neck? Then what?”

Susanna lowered her voice a little, but Tom could still hear with ease. He told himself that the only reason he was listening in on the conversation was to find out more information about the tiara. “Myrtle. We talked to Olive. She apologized, didn’t she?”

Myrtle snorted again. “Yeah, I could just feel the sincerity rolling off of her. Seriously, I’m amazed that no one has punched her in the face yet.”

There was a choked laughing sound from Susanna. “I can picture it already, we’re walking down the hall one way, she’s walking the other. We bump in the middle, and she gives us that annoying eye roll. Then a quick one-two, and we run away, screaming like maniacs. She’d never know what hit her.”

“Well, if we’re screaming like maniacs, I’m pretty sure she would know that you’re the one who hit her.”

Before Tom could listen to Susanna’s response, he realized that everyone in his group was staring at him. He undid the spell, and shook his head. “Sorry, I must have been woolgathering. What’s up?”

Jonathon Avery chuckled. “I have never seen you lost in your thoughts before. It’s nice, you almost looked peaceful for once.”

Tom scowled. “I always look peaceful. I’m full of peace. I’m less full of charity, however, so if one of you would like to explain what I missed…”

Gregory Nott answered, though he lowered his voice, so Tom had to lean forward to hear him. “Lestrange told us what you said earlier, about how what we did wasn’t bad, it was our method that needs some work. We have another target, Mark Shone. A stupid blundering Hufflepuff. So how do you want us to do it this time?” It was normal for them to call each other by last name, so Tom didn’t blink at that. 

Tom narrowed his eyes. He gestured to the rest of the Great Hall. “Do you really think that this is the best place to discuss it?”

The seven boys stood up, leaving their unfinished food behind. Tom was the only one who felt a little guilty about that. He was the only one in the group who knew what it was like to be hungry, since the orphanage he lived in was very low on funding, and here they were, wasting enough food to feed everyone in the orphanage. He shrugged off the feeling. It’s not like he cared for any of the other orphans anyways.

The boys were pretty quiet as they walked through the hallways, just basic small talk and joking going on. They discovered happily Tom wasn’t the only one who had been invited to Slughorn’s party. Lestrange and Avery were going too. Once they returned to the common room, they all sat and made themselves comfortable. Tom sat in the armchair that was, for all intents and purposes, his, and the others settled on the couch and on the floor.

Tom cleared his throat. “So, you think you have what it takes to rid this world of those filthy mudbloods?” The boys nodded. They didn’t even feel a little bit weird being talked to like this by a student that was younger than some of them. “Well, if you are caught, then your mission in over. So you don’t want to get caught, do you?” The boys shook their heads. “Well then, let’s be smart about this.” Tom’s gaze snapped to Alexei Dolohov, the youngest in the group. He was only a third year. “Fetch me the book that is on my dresser.”

The younger boy nodded and jumped up. He practically ran into the fifth year dorm room, grabbed the book, and ran back. He handed it to Tom. The prefect opened the book and thumbed through the pages. The others stayed silent while he searched. He stopped when he got to a page that had a slip of paper in it, marking the place.

He grinned, and cleared his throat and began to read from the selected passage. “‘Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded over a thousand years ago, by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of the co-founders existed harmoniously. One did not.’”

“Three guesses who,” Sirius muttered.

“‘Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. In other words, pure bloods.’” The boys nodded at that idea. “‘Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. According to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the chamber and unleash the horror within, and by doing so, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin’s view were unworthy to study magic.’”

“Mudbloods,” Avery stated. 

Tom nodded with satisfaction. Rosier frowned. “But how does that help us? We don’t know where the chamber is, or if it even exists. And even if it does, how would we open it? I don’t happen to know any Slytherin heirs, do you?”

Tom stood up slowly, letting the book drop to the floor with a soft thump on the carpet. Rosier, who was sitting on the carpet, gulped as Tom stood over him. The prefect crouched down, and opened his mouth. Rosier’s eyes widened. Tom began to speak, but they weren’t words. Not like how they were usually spoken. His pet snake slowly slithered out of the dorm room, and into the common room. Almost simultaneously, the boys realized what Tom was speaking in. Definitely not English. It was parseltongue.

Being able to speak to snakes was a very rare gift. The reason Slytherin’s symbol was the serpent was because of his almost completely unique ability to speak in the language of snakes. And if Tom could speak to snakes, that meant he had to be the heir of Slytherin, there was no other conclusion that could be drawn.

Once he was satisfied that they were convinced, he sat down again. Nagini, his snake, curled onto his lap like some pet dog or something. He stroked her smooth head absent mindedly. “Good, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, all that’s left is for us to find the actual location of the chamber. It may take some time, but it will be worth it. Whatever evil is lurking down there will be much more effective than whatever you were planning on doing.”

The boys looked at Tom in awe. There was just something about him, something that inspired fear, commanded respect. And they all agreed with the idea of using whatever Salazar Slytherin hid down in the chamber. It would be much better than just using their fists and wands, though Avery was very proud of the knife spell he had perfected, the one that had allowed him to write on that mudblood girl’s skin as easily as if it were parchment. 

Tom waved his hand in dismissal, and other than Sirius, all the boys got up and filed off to their individual dorm rooms. Tom continued petting Nagini, and if she were a cat, she would have purred. Sirius frowned at his friend. He was the only one in their group who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. “What was that about at dinner?”

Tom shrugged. “You’ll have to be more specific, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

Sirius frowned. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You were staring at that mudblood while we were talking to you. A mudblood, Tom. What would the others think if they knew?”

Tom shrugged off the concern. “Don’t worry about it. I’m only paying attention to her because she has something that interests me.”

Sirius snorted. “A v-”

He was cut off by the rest of the Slytherins parading in, having finished dinner and dessert. Tom felt a little annoyed by the crass comment who knew Sirius would have made if he wasn’t interrupted. He pushed Nagini off his lap and stood up. Without another word, he picked up the book that had fallen to the ground, and went back to his dorm room, the loyal snake following close behind. 

Tom changed into his pajamas, and slipped into bed. He felt the comforting weight of Nagini lying at the foot of his bed, and sighed. It wasn’t even that late, just starting to get dark, but he felt very tired for some reason, just like he had last night. Maybe there was something about talking to Susanna that was just exhausting.

Then he scolded himself for thinking about her. It was like a form of betrayal to even think about a mudblood if those thoughts weren’t accompanied by hate and the need to hurt them. he had no idea why Susanna didn’t invoke those thoughts the way those other mudbloods did. He felt a strange feeling in his chest.

Maybe it was because Susanna didn’t act like a mudblood. She didn’t go around afraid of the purebloods, and she was willing to defy people who said they didn’t believe in her. She was brave, and that was more of a Gryffindor trait. She was also stupid to go out trying to fly a broom without any help, and that was more of a Hufflepuff trait. And from the conversation earlier, she was willing to get violent if she had to to protect her friend, and that kind of loyalty is common among Slytherin. But he had yet to see anything that made her seem fit for Ravenclaw. 

Before he fell asleep, Tom decided that he would have to talk to Susanna more. It would be a completely educational thing, to try and figure out why she was put into Ravenclaw. And no one ever seemed to mind when he was all for education, right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how to do italics on here, so spells will just be written ordinary, even though on my original document they're all in italics.

Tom wandered into the library. He had just gotten out of transfiguration, and they had been given a long assignment that promised many all-nighters. About half an hour after he was settled at his favorite table with the books and parchment he would need, there was a thud from behind one of the ridiculously long rows of books. He sighed and got up to see who was disturbing his research.

He found the source of the noise, and frowned. Susanna was sprawled on the floor, surrounded by several large books. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head. She laughed sheepishly when she saw Tom. “Heh heh, I think that it must be destiny. You always show up right when I need a hero.”

Tom frowned, but he leaned down to grab her arm and pull her up, then bent down to help her gather the heavy books. “What are you looking for?”

He glanced at the book titles as he stacked them in his arms. She shrugged as she scooped up as many books as possible. Tom noticed that the sleeve of her robe conveniently covered the spines of all the books in her arms so she couldn’t read the titles. “Nothing. These all fell from the top shelf when I was pulling off the one I actually needed.”

Tom glanced up, and saw that there was only enough space for one book, not all of these. He sighed. Was she ever going to just give him a straight answer? But he decided not to push it, for now. He carried the books over to an empty table and deposited them. She dropped her stack down too, and smiled gratefully. Tom smiled. “So, can I ask you something?” Susanna nodded. “Why are you in Ravenclaw?”

Susanna shrugged. “I don’t know. It honestly surprised me when the sorting hat placed me in Ravenclaw. I’m not sure quite what I was expecting. I guess I don’t really have the qualities of any of the houses, so he decided that I might as well go with the smart people.”

Tom’s eyes widened as something clicked in his mind. Susanna was in Ravenclaw, and the band was an old family heirloom that was supposed to bring the wearer wisdom and intelligence. He knew that story sounded familiar, but he wanted to be sure. He nodded. “Interesting. Well, I’m really sorry, but I have to go now. I’ll see you around?”

Her nod almost seemed relieved. She must have thought that he was leaving so it wouldn’t be awkward about the books she was hiding. He hurried away, and to Slughorn’s office. When he got there, the classroom was empty, so he went straight to the office in back. He knocked once, and Slughorn shouted, “Come in!”

Tom pushed the door open and stepped inside. The portly teacher was sitting at his desk filling out paperwork. He grinned when he saw Tom, and gestured for the boy to take a seat. Tom sat. “Professor, may I ask you something?”

The young teacher nodded. “Of course, my dear boy. Ask away.”

He smiled. “I remember hearing the story of the founders, but it was a while ago. I know that all of them had their own unique magical item that symbolized them. Could you remind me of them? For a paper I’m writing in history of magic?”

Slughorn shrugged. “Well, you really should look these things up on your own. But I’ll help you out, just this once. Salazar Slytherin had a locket, a rather ugly thing, Helga Hufflepuff had a cup, Rowena Ravenclaw had a diadem, and Godric Gryffindor had his sword.” 

Tom nodded. “What happened to those things?”

“Well, the necklace, the cup, and the sword are all in the school right now, stored in their respective houses. But the diadem is lost, and it has been for a very long time.”

Tom frowned. “What happened?”

Slughorn sighed, but he answered. “Ravenclaw’s daughter, Helena, was jealous of her mother’s wisdom, and stole the relic in hopes of making herself wiser. When Ravenclaw fell deathly ill, she had sent a man who had once loved Helena to fetch her, the Bloody Baron. She hid the diadem, and refused to return with him, so he killed her, and then felt so guilty and horrified, he killed himself. To this day, no one knows where the diadem ended up. Does that help?”

Tom nodded. “Yes, very much so. Thank you, professor.”

Well, that was very helpful. He headed back to the Slytherin common room, hoping to bump into the Bloody Baron in the dungeons. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the Slytherin house ghost had the same name as the person who had killed Rowena Ravenclaw’s child. When he couldn’t find the specter in the dungeons, he headed to the Great Hall, where the ghosts were known to hang around sometimes.

Fortunately, Tom bumped into the Baron as he was heading to the Great Hall. “Ah, just the ghost I was looking for.”

The Baron smiled affectionately. Even he was not immune to Tom’s natural charming aura. “Tom. What can I do for you?”

Tom sighed. He knew that the ghost could be temperamental, and he didn’t want to scare the dead man off. “Well, I know that this is probably a sore subject, but what do you know about Helena Ravenclaw?” At the sour expression, Tom knew that he was talking to the right guy. “More specifically, do you know where she hid the diadem?”

The Baron scowled. “Listen, you’re not the first student to approach me to ask about the diadem. It’s something of a legend, and whoever finds it will be famous, and I understand that,”

Tom shook his head. “I’m not trying to use it to get famous. I just want to know.”

The Baron gave him a hard look, but apparently decided to cooperate. His face softened. “I know that you’re telling the truth, I just know it. Well, I don’t know anything about the diadem. But if I were to know something about it, I would probably ask the Grey Lady.”

Tom nodded his thanks, and hurried off to find the Ravenclaw house ghost. This was more work than he had thought it was going to be. And he still wasn’t even quite sure why he was so interested in finding out more about the diadem. Before he could find the Grey Lady, she found him. She looked a little sad, but also curious. “I heard that you’re looking for me?”

Tom nodded. “You heard correctly.”

“What do you want? You are not one of my Ravenclaws.”

“I was wondering if you knew anything about the lost diadem of Ravenclaw. I completely understand if you don’t, but I’ve been informed that if anyone does know anything, it would be you.” 

She nodded. “You have been informed correctly. I’ll make you a deal. I know that the Baron must trust you very much to tell you to seek me out. But before I tell you what I know, you must do two things for me. First, you must convince the Baron to meet with me, face to face, just the two of us. And second, you must tell me why you are interested in the diadem.”

Tom nodded. “Fair enough. Alright.” He lowered his voice. He had seen the Grey Lady moping around before, and he had seen the way the two house ghosts looked at each other, so he was pretty sure that her and the Baron had had a thing together at one point. And it seemed she wanted to be with him again, so she would relate to love related matters. “The reason I’m so interested in the diadem is because I want to impress the girl that I like. Now I’ll go get that meeting.”

He only turned one corner before he walked right through the cold misty figure. He looked anxious. “So? What did she say?”

Tom sighed. “She said that she’ll only talk to me if you agree to talk to her, alone.”

The Baron nodded, pretending that he wasn’t so eager. “Alright. Tell her that I’m right here. And there are no other ghosts, people, or pictures to eavesdrop.”

Tom turned around, and the Grey Lady was already right there. She barely glanced at Tom. “Give us a minute?”

Not wanting to get in between them, Tom nodded and walked to a spot a few hallways away. He wasn’t sure how exactly ghostly romances worked, but if that’s what it took to get answers, then that was okay with him. About half an hour later, the Grey Lady came out of the wall that Tom had been leaning against.

“So, you wanted to know about the diadem? The truth is, not even I know where it is. It could be anywhere. But I can tell you this much, back before I was killed, I had a child. With a muggle. Sort of to spite my mother.” Tom nodded. He didn’t need much else to figure that the Grey Lady was the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw. “I gave the diadem to the muggle, and told him to give it to our son when he was older. I think that my line was continued on, even if I wasn’t there to witness it, even if it was muggles. So if the diadem was passed along the line, then it could belong to anyone right now. I’m sorry that’s all I know.”

Tom shook his head. “No, that’s more than enough, thank you. I think I know what’s what now.” If Helena’s line had been passed down through muggles, never knowing about the magical world, then they wouldn’t have known about the magic of the diadem, and it would have just been a family heirloom. He laughed to himself. Why were muggles so good at making the heirs of the original Hogwarts’ founders? His own father was a muggle, and both of Susanna’s parents were muggles. He wondered what the odds were of two heirs being born in the same generation.

He went to go find Susanna. She had had a lot of books with her in the library, even if that had been a little while ago, so he decided to check there first. He popped in, but he didn’t see her. As he turned to leave, he noticed that the pile of books was still lying on the table, and he decided to see what they were.

Tom shuffled the books a little bit, and his eyes glanced across all the covers. Each one had something to do with flirting, or dating, or asking someone out. There was a strange feeling in his chest as he wondered who Susanna fancied. He looked up, and saw Susanna coming back to the table, more books stacked up in her arms. She dropped them down on the table. “Tom. Did you do that thing you needed to do earlier?”

It took him a moment to remember that responses were generally encouraged when one was asked a question. “Huh? Oh yeah. So listen, Susanna, I was wondering if I could do some research into your bloodline.”

She frowned. “Why?”

Tom shrugged. “Well, I’ve been thinking. I believe that mud- muggle born wizards and witches all have some wizard or witch somewhere in their ancestry. That would mean that their magic isn’t just random, it actually comes from somewhere. But so far I have a small supply of samples. So can I work on it?”

Susanna narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I know that you’re not one of those foolish guys who attacked me. You wouldn’t use anything you find against me. You know, I think you may officially be the nicest guy I’ve ever met. And who knows? Maybe it’ll turn out that I’m descended from someone powerful and well known. Then those guys would have to respect me, at least a little more than they do right now.”

Tom nodded. She was surprisingly close to the mark. “So, I’ve been working on a spell that will make tracking lineage much easier. It doesn’t require much, just a drop of blood.”

Susanna frowned. “Before I go giving up my life essence here, why don’t you show me this spell of yours? I mean, I’m not the smartest person in the room, but I do know at least a little bit about spells. At least enough to know you should always be cautious with homemade incantations.”

Tom nodded. “I understand. Should I write it down for you?”

Susanna shook her head. “No, just say it out loud, that should be good enough.”

Tom laughed. “Won’t that make my wand do the spell before you can even look at it?”

The girl mimicked his laughter. “Are you serious? I guess I really do belong in Ravenclaw. I always thought it was common knowledge though, that if you separate your thoughts into different feelings and sounds, then you’ll be able to say a spell, while making the proper movements with your wand, and you won’t have to actually set the spell into motion.”

Tom shrugged. “Alright. Vestigium prosapiae usura sanguis non errata quaeso.”

Susanna frowned. “That sounds awfully literal. But not wrong. I guess I trust you.” She sighed dramatically. “Take my blood, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spell was made with the help of google translate lol


	6. Chapter 6

Tom smiled gratefully at Susanna. He wasn’t going to say quite what he was thinking just yet, not until he got the results of the spell. But some strange part of him was feeling very hopeful, and he wasn’t even sure that he had ever felt that before. But if Susanna was Ravenclaw’s heir, that would mean that she would be a worthy wizard, even in the eyes of the crazy purists. 

He said the spell again, this time for real, and they both watched as the tip of Susanna’s finger opened a tiny bit, allowing a small bubble of thick red blood to float out. The incision closed immediately after. Tom nodded. “Well, I’ll just head down to the potions room to work on this…”

Susanna crossed her arms over her chest. “What? You think that I’m not going to want to see this? Whether you uncover something cool, or you fail, you should let me keep you company, at least.”

Tom shook his head. “Didn’t you come in here to do some reading? I wouldn’t want to disturb you.”

Susanna shook her head. “Nah, this stuff can wait. But new spells and things like that? Seriously cool.”

Tom shrugged. “Fine. It’ll be useful if I have to ask you any questions about your family, rather than sending messengers across the school.”

Susanna laughed. “Yeah, you seem like the type of guy to have messengers. Well then, shall we?”

She linked their arms together, and Tom just sighed. He had to concentrate on keeping the blood afloat, though now that she was coming with him, it would be easy to get another sample. It wasn’t worth the fuss, though. But if he saw anyone he knew approaching, he would immediately separate from the mudblood.

They successfully made it to the dungeons without incident, which was a little surprising considering the dungeons were where the majority of Slytherins like to hang out in their free time.The potions room was empty, and Tom shook his arm away from Susanna’s. He safely let the blood spill into an empty vial, and glanced over at the girl.

He expected her to gag at the sight, or even turn away completely, but instead she was just staring on boredly. She saw his slightly surprised look, and shrugged. “I guess I’ve seen enough of my blood by now that I don’t even have the energy to be disgusted by the sight. I was attacked recently, as I’m sure you recall.”

Tom nodded. He turned back to the table, and made sure the vial wasn’t going to fall over from being too close to the edge. Then he went over the cabinets, and began pulling out certain ingredients. He went back over to the table, and began mixing things in in what must have seemed like an arbitrary way to Susanna. 

He felt the presence of someone behind him, and when he turned his neck a little, he saw that the young witch had moved so she could peer over his shoulder and watch his progress. He tried his best to ignore her. There was a loud thump behind him, and Tom spun around. Sirius was standing in the doorway, his mouth open in shock, his books laying dropped on the ground, which explained the thump.

He narrowed his eyes at Tom, and his thoughts were perfectly clear. He thought Tom was a traitor. Hanging out with the mudblood that the others had beaten up. There was only two choices for him. Defend himself to Sirius by shoving Susanna around, maybe toss in a few insults, then leave, or blow off his best friend by saying nothing.

He glanced back and forth between the two. Sirius was his best friend, or the closest thing to it, and they had bonded over a mutual hatred of mudbloods. Susanna was a mudblood, one that he hadn’t known for longer than two days, and the possibility of her actually being Ravenclaw’s heir was rather slim.

He looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow. His look said, ‘we’ll discuss this later, when there’s no chance of you being apprehended as one of the attackers’.

Sirius nodded, though he didn’t hide his sneer as he scooped up his books, and turned away. Susanna looked up at Tom with suspicion in her eyes. She was a smart girl, and it probably wouldn’t take much for her to figure out what his real feelings were if he wasn’t more careful. As much as disdain for mudbloods was accepted by most Slytherins, and even pure bloods in other houses, in these times the majority of the school was against that kind of discrimination.

“Sorry, that was just… Sirius Lestrange. He’s a little… odd…”

Susanna’s gaze didn’t soften. She cleared her throat. “You know, I think that stuff I was looking up in the library is rather important after all. I should be getting back to it before someone puts all those books back and disrupts my research.”

Tom just nodded, and watched as Susanna scurried away. He wished that he could know what he was thinking. If she was on to him, then she would make sure to spread the world, and then, even if people didn’t necessarily believe her, the seed of doubt would have been planted. No one would trust his charming grin again.

He went back to his potion mixing. After everything was all set, he carried the vial over to a side counter that was rarely used, and left it there to ferment for the proper amount of time. In just a fortnight, he would be able to trace Susanna’s entire family tree. He would have his answer in two weeks. He wasn’t sure what it was the answer to exactly, but he knew that he needed to know.

But until then, he would have to avoid the girl. He didn’t want Sirius to get the wrong idea, and start to think that Tom was actually friends with the witch, when he would never even consider having a mudblood as a friend. He headed back to the common room, and found the rest of the group already sitting around. Tom settled into his seat, figuring this was going to take a lot of careful navigation to get through without losing anyone’s loyalty.

Sirius cleared his throat. “Tom… why were you consorting with that… filthy mudblood?”

The others all turned to look at him simultaneously, a scandalous frown on all of their faces. Tom frowned. He spoke slowly and quietly, as though they were talking about nothing more pressing than the latest quidditch game. “You believe me to be a traitor for speaking with the mudblood? Have you not considered that she may have seen your faces? She would not willingly say that much to an ‘untrustworthy’ stranger, but to one who has befriended her, she may feel comfortable enough to bring them into her confidence.”

Sirius shook her head. “What were you doing with her in the potions room? Without even having any supervision? Did you look into her mind to extract that information when she let her guard down?”

Tom’s jaw twitched. “Obviously I could not do that, seeing as she would most likely tattle on me, and the other students would soon find that they don’t like me so much after all, even if there is absolutely no evidence linking me to the blundering crime that you all have committed. Is that what you want? For me to take the blame for your foolishness because I was trying to clean up after you?”

There was a murmur of no, and Tom nodded with satisfaction. Then Avery stood up. “Why did you bother saving her at all if you knew that she could be such a problem?”

Tom shrugged nonchalantly. “Well for one, no one bothered letting me in on the plan, so I had no idea that she was a mudblood when I found her. And for two, do you really think that a murder would be easy to cover up? Dippet would crack down on everyone much harder than he is for an attack. Which, by the way, have I mentioned how sloppy it was?”

Avery sat back down, an unreadable expression on his face. Tom didn’t care though. He knew that even if the others were mad at him for a day, two days at most, they would get over it and go back to how things were before. As long as he didn’t mess up again. And there was no need to tell them all his Ravenclaw’s heir theory unless he got definitive evidence supporting the claim, otherwise they would accuse him of protecting her.

Sirius stared at Tom with a hard look in his eyes. “So you’re positive that that’s all it was? You’re just looking out for us?”

Tom nodded. “Of course. And I’ve been thinking, who knows when we’ll find the Chamber? And who among us will find it first? It would be much easier if everyone knew how to get in, and not just me. So starting from now on, every night I’ll teach you all some parseltongue. It will be difficult, and you won’t really understand it. It’ll really be more like memorization than actual learning, but it’s better than nothing, right?”

The boys all nodded their agreement. Avery smirked. “So I guess you won’t be so high and mighty in the end, with us all knowing that slithery language. I mean, isn’t that really the only thing that sets you apart from us in the end? And now you’re giving that to us as well.”

Tom smiled dangerously. “Of course. I’m no better than you.” Without even touching his wand, he made Avery slowly rise up until he was levitating by the ceiling. He began to spasm as he was filled with the intense pain cause by the Crucio curse. All the boys stared up at their leader in awe. He didn’t even flinch. Then, without warning, he let the other boy drop back to the ground with a crunch.

Then he waved his arm in a silent gesture of dismissal. “There won’t be any lessons tonight, I’m afraid. I’ve lost my good mood.” The boys all scrambled away, not wanting to stay close to Tom when he had such a frightening look on his face.

He waited until he couldn’t hear them anymore, and then he was free to collapse back into the chair, no longer bothering to maintain his perfect posture. He was trembling all over. He assured himself that it was just the effect of using such a strong spell without the assistance of his wand or the spoken word, but deep down, he knew that that wasn’t the case. He was shaking like a leaf because he had just caused such torturous pain in a human being, one of his friends, no less.

That was unforgivable, and he snickered at that thought. Those three curses, more illegal than anything else, were appropriately named. Nagini slithered up onto his lap, and he began stroking her scaly head absent-mindedly. He hissed, and the sound was comforting. Once he felt more sturdy, he stood up, and made his way into his room.

Luckily, his roommates had scattered to somewhere else in the school, so even if he was still a little shaky, none of his roommates weren’t there to witness it. He peeled off his now sweat soaked robes, and discarded them into the laundry bin in the center of the room. He pulled on a clean tee shirt, and slipped between the cool satin sheets on his bed. It was still only midday, but with the thick curtains drawn, he could pretend that it was the middle of the night.

He wondered what on earth was wrong with him. He was practically flirting with a mudblood, he shouldn’t have been anywhere near as close to her as he was. And his deep interest in her lineage was also unprecedented. Tom was a very gifted wizard, so he could easily cast even the more difficult spells, without any aids. And he had used the cruciatus curse before, maybe not on people, but he had used it, and it had never affected him like this.

Maybe he was going soft, and it really was time for someone else to step up and take control of the group of muggle and muggle born haters. Then he shook his head. Nah, he was a born leader, and it felt like destiny to him that he stay in the position that he had earned. He felt the familiar weight of Nagini at the foot of his bed, and managed to drift off into a long overdue nap. He could contemplate all of these things later, when he didn’t feel quite so drained.


	7. Chapter 7

Tom blinked at sat up. His stomach was grumbling, and he got up, made his bed, and pulled on his robes. He pulled back one of the thick curtains, and saw the glaring shine of the setting sun. There was no one around as he walked into the common rooms, so it must be dinner time. He had slept half the day away, apparently.

As he headed to the stairs at the end of the dungeon, he heard a quiet sobbing coming from that direction. He walked closer with silent footsteps, and peered around the corner. There was the girl with the huge glasses and awful pigtails. Susanna was sitting next to her, letting the brunette rest her head on her shoulder. She was making soft noises of comfort to keep the blubbering sound at a minimum. 

Tom couldn’t help thinking that in terms of friendships, Susanna was way out of the other girl’s league. What was her name again? Susanna answered the unspoken question in her comforts. “Myrtle, calm down. I promise, no one is going to hurt you.” 

Tom didn’t want to wait at the foot of the stairs and listening to Myrtle’s annoying whining and miss dinner, so he continued walking. Both girls looked up in surprise. Myrtle sniffled and rubbed her eyes, trying to hide that they were red and puffy. Tom cleared his throat. “Pardon me, I believe that you’re blocking the stairs.”

Susanna frowned. “You’re awfully late to dinner, aren’t you?”

He raised one eyebrow. “Says the girl who looks like she has no intention of moving for quite a while.”

She houghed. “Well excuse me for being in your way.” She stood up and held her hand out to Myrtle. “Come on, let’s go. Someplace more private.”

Tom sighed. “Why were you sitting on the steps that lead straight to Slytherin, anyways? Is the Ravenclaw common room not a suitable place for hanging out?”

Susanna rolled her eyes. “It’s really none of your business. Now, I wouldn’t want to delay your dinner plans any longer, so why don’t you just hurry along.”

Her blue eyes were full of a fire that Tom admired. He nodded. “Thank you. That’s all I was asking for in the first place.” He stepped past them, brushing right up next to Susanna, and she gasped. Once he was beyond them, he hurried to the Great Hall, hoping that he wasn’t missing out on important announcements, or good food.

A few people glanced up as he hurried in, but others were still getting seated as well, so he wasn’t late enough to warrant much attention. He took his usual seat next to Sirius, who laughed. “We thought that you needed your beauty sleep, and came to a group consensus not to wake you up. Please don’t torture me for making you a few minutes late to the meal.”

Tom frowned coldly. “You know, Sirius, you have a lot of skills, and I respect you, admire you, even. But don’t mistake that admiration for anything else. You are just as indispensable as anyone. There are many who would fight you to gain your position, and are, quite frankly, more suited to it than you. So you’d better watch your mouth.”

Sirius nodded, and mumbled something into his roll. Avery, who was sitting on the other side of Sirius, chuckled. He spoke in an obvious conspiratorial whisper. “Hey Lestrange, maybe you should show Tom that you’re only as indispensable as he is.”

Tom glanced up at the teachers, who were chatting and eating on their raised platform. He wasn’t stupid enough to think he would be able to get away with much in front of them. But later, once they were all back in their common room, he would prove once and for all that he was in charge, and for very good reason.

As he bit into his food, Myrtle hurried into the Hall, on her own. Tom squashed down that tiny feeling of disappointment that Susanna wasn’t with her funny little friend. Myrtle sat down at Ravenclaw, and began putting food onto her plate, talking with some of the other girls that she was sitting next to.

Tom was curious about what happened to Susanna. Why wasn’t she going to show up to dinner? As they all laughed and talked, Tom ignored his fellow Slytherins. As far as he was concerned, they were all temporarily benched, meaning he was pissed, and he was going to give them the silent treatment until he got a chance to actually punish them for their words and actions.

Once the meal was over, and all the food disappeared, just like always, the boys got up and made their way back to the dungeons. Tom purposely lagged behind a little, so that he would be able to make some grand entrance later, when he was ready to scare them. He would have to wait until they were all settled down and comfortable, with their guards let down, but he couldn’t wait too long, because then the younger boys would already be in bed.

As he walked down the stairs, his eyes automatically slid to the spot where he had seen Myrtle and Susanna earlier. Once the hall was clear, Tom ran forward and burst into the common room, making everyone in there jump in shock. While they were up, he shoved away the kid who was sitting in his armchair, and took his spot.

He smiled pleasantly, but all of his friends could see the cold look in his eyes. “So, who’s first?”

Avery glanced down at the floor, not making eye contact with Tom. Now that he realized what was going to happen, he was no longer feeling brave. He could still feel the pain from earlier, and he didn’t want to suffer through that again. Tom turned his gaze to Sirius, who was supposed to be his best friend. He chuckled softly. “Well, I hate to say it, but I believe it was you who disrespected me first. And something that I absolutely cannot stand is disrespect. It’s worse than the existence of a hundred mudbloods, I can assure you.”

Sirius laughed nervously. He knew that Tom was capable of torturing actual human beings, as proven by his earlier demonstration, but he wouldn’t actually harm his best friend, would he? “Tom…”

Tom cut him off. “Do you want to know when disrespect is the worst? When it comes from the one person who you thought would always respect you. Your infraction is unforgivable. I think we all know you deserve a punishment.” He turned to look at the rest of the group. “If anyone would like to disagree, perhaps thinking that Lestrange has done nothing wrong, then feel free to volunteer to take the punishment in his place. Come on, speak up.”

Sirius looked over the other boys, silently begging one of them to step up. But none of them did. Because they were all interested in looking out for themselves, like they always were. None of them were going to risk their neck for the sake of another. In some ways, that was a horrifying thought to Tom. But he also couldn’t help but feel awe at the idea of their loyalty belonging to no one but themselves.

Tom shrugged. “Well, my friend, it seems that everyone is in agreement. You showed me disrespect, and now, I’ll teach you why that is unacceptable, and can never happen again.” Without touching his wand, Tom stared at Sirius, as though he were bored. The older boy floated up into the air, and started screaming as the pain began.

The boys couldn’t tear their eyes away from the sight. Avery’s eyes were on Tom, though. He was sure that Tom would make an excellent leader for all their anti-mudblood plans. No one would ever dare stand up against Tom, not after today. After what felt like an eternity to Sirius, he fell down.

A couple of the boys glanced at Tom first, to make sure it was okay, and when he nodded his approval, they approached Sirius to help him up. He pushed them back, and stood up on his own, very shaky, legs. He glared at them, letting them know that they’d be sorry for not saying anything. But they didn’t really care. Sirius couldn’t hurt them any worse than Tom, and they were more afraid of the prefect.

***

The next morning, Tom woke up early, like he usually did. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to get away with sneaking into the library early, so he would have to wait until the librarian came and opened it up himself.

He leaned against the wall across from the Great Hall, lost in thought. He was interrupted by the sound of a quiet, annoying, voice. He opened his eyes, and found himself staring at Myrtle. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and she was staring at him with suspicion filling her eyes.

Tom raised one eyebrow. “May I help you?” 

She sighed. “Listen, you’re the one that saved my friend, Susanna, and I’m really grateful, believe me, I’m grateful. If you hadn’t found her when you did…” She let that thought hang in the air for a moment before continuing. “Anyways, I know that she trusts you, because you saved her, but she’s been acting kind of funny since yesterday afternoon, and I want to know why.”

Tom shrugged. “How would I know? Why don’t you just ask her yourself?”

Myrtle sighed. “She’s keeping secrets from me, her best friend. Yesterday she said she was going to be in the library, so when I needed to talk to her about something important, I went down to the library, and she wasn’t there. Everyone said that she had left with you, and I searched everywhere I could think of. I found her back at the library later. You were the last one to see her, so why is she acting so strange all of a sudden?”

Tom shrugged again. “Maybe it’s just a phase, I don’t really know. She seemed perfectly normal while we were talking yesterday.”

Myrtle’s eyes narrowed. “What were you talking about?”

Tom rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously going to be that person? The one who doesn’t let their friend do a single little thing without telling you about it first? Because I don’t know if anybody’s told you this yet or not, but your friend’s life is not yours to control.”

Myrtle pushed her glasses up where they were sliding down the bridge of her nose. “If you don’t want to tell me, then fine. I guess that means I don’t have to tell you about what happened last night.”

The prefect shrugged. He really shouldn’t care what happened last night, because whatever it was had nothing to do with him. But it had been worrisome not seeing Susanna at dinner last night. “What happened last night that I would be so interested in?”

Myrtle imitated his shrug. “Like I said, if you don’t feel the need to answer my questions, then I absolutely don’t feel the need to answer yours. I hope you have a nice life, Tom Riddle, and that it has absolutely nothing to do with Susanna. Because she’s already got so much crap on her plate, and she doesn’t need to add all the problems that you bring to the mix.”

Tom frowned. “Hey, you approached me first, I was just standing here, minding my own business, waiting for the library to open up. You’re the one who brought up the mysterious event that took place last night, and now refuse to elaborate on. Don’t get all high and mighty with me.”

Myrtle laughed. “I know what you think of muggle borns. It’s so obvious, in the way that you Slytherins act so completely different around us, like we’re not even people just because we happen to have been born into a family made up of non-magical people.”

Tom shook his head. “That’s not true. And besides, Susanna’s brother is a wizard, right, so she wasn’t born into a non-magical family, right?”

Myrtle sighed. “You really are awfully stupid for a prefect. How did they choose you? Because I think that I need to have a word with management or something about their hiring methods. I think they need to be a tad more selective in their processes.”

The librarian walked past the two students, and Tom followed the teacher, wanting to get into the library as soon as it was open. To his annoyance, Myrtle followed him. It wasn’t illegal to let her in, but Tom sorely wished that it was. He would almost prefer to have Vanessa Guard trailing him around like a lost puppy. Almost being the key word.

He turned to face her. “What do you want from me?”

She stared at him searchingly. “I just want to know… I just want to know that she’s okay. I just want to know that my best friend is going to make it through this.”

Tom sighed. “I have no idea how to make you feel better about anything if you’re not even going to tell me what happened. So, I’m going to ask again. This time it would be in your best interest to answer me. What happened last night?”

Myrtle sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to tell me something first.”

Tom nodded his consent to the terms. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Do you hate all muggle borns?”


	8. Chapter 8

Tom quirked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what?”

Myrtle rolled her eyes. “You heard me perfectly fine the first time. I asked you whether or not you hate muggle borns.”

The Slytherin shrugged. “I saved Susanna, and she’s a muggle born, right?”

Myrtle shook her head. “That doesn’t answer my question. I asked whether or not you hate them, not whether or not you’re willing to help someone who you don’t even know the lineage of. So? Do you hate muggle borns or not?”

Tom laughed. “Why do you automatically assume that all Slytherins are purists?”

She sighed. “You are so thick. You’re not even good at avoiding. If you can’t answer me, then I can only assume the worst.”

Tom grabbed her arm as she turned to go. “I wasn’t trying to avoid anything. No, I don’t hate muggle borns. Does that satisfy you?”

Myrtle narrowed her eyes. She still didn’t look completely satisfied, but she was at least a little appeased that he said it out loud. “Fine.”

Tom nodded. “Good. Now that we’ve got that settled, you can answer my question.”

Myrtle raised one eyebrow. “What question was that?”

Tom groaned with frustration. He had no idea how Myrtle and Susanna had met and become friends, because they were very different people. But that was none of his concern. “I want to know what happened last night. Why couldn’t Susanna make it to dinner?”

Myrtle sighed. “I’m only telling you this because I know that Susanna trusts you, for some reason. Well, I already told you that she’s been acting funny since she was hanging out with you earlier. But that wasn’t the worst part. Whoever those jerks were that attacked her the other day, they surrounded us last night, after you had already passed us. Well, at least one of them. They said some… hurtful things to Susanna. She threw a punch, and he knew just where to hit to reopen her biggest wound, so she told me to go to dinner, and she went to the infirmary on her own.”

Tom frowned. He tried to think about which of his friends was absent at dinner last night, but he hadn’t been paying enough attention. He had been too busy ignoring them out of anger. So he had no idea who had attacked Susanna again. He couldn’t help feeling guilty, like if he had waited for the two Ravenclaws to got the Great Hall, there would have been no chance of Susanna being hurt. 

He wondered why the attacker hadn’t gone for Myrtle, even though she was also a mudblood. He sighed. “So you decided to stalk me in the morning, and somehow found out that I was going to be going to the library? How did you know that?”

Myrtle rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, you’re always going to the library, everyone knows that.” She lowered her voice. “I may have bribed another prefect to figure out where to find you.”

Tom sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry that your friend was attacked, okay? But that doesn’t make it right to follow me around, or stalk me, or whatever you want to call it. I don’t mean to sound rude, but can’t you just leave me alone.”

Myrtle glared at him. She pushed her glasses up, as they started slipping down her nose again. “Fine, I’ll leave you alone. I just thought that you should know, since she trusts you, and I thought that since you guys were hanging out together, maybe you actually care. I thought I was doing you a favor, but I guess I was just wasting my breath.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Tom laughed. “You know, if you talked to the girls who bully you with this level of confidence, I’m pretty sure they would never try to bother you again.” 

Myrtle stormed off, and Tom shrugged. He didn’t care what happened to Susanna. Not until he knew once and for all whether or not she was the heir of Ravenclaw the way that he was the heir of Slytherin. He went into the library, and sat at his usual spot. He put down his bag to mark the seat as taken, then began to browse the large shelves stuffed with books.

He returned to his table a few minutes later, and was almost bumped into by what looked like a stack of books with legs. He managed to get out of the way in time, but the carrier of the books dropped them all. They pounded onto the floor with a very loud clatter, and when he glanced up, he saw that it was Susanna who had been carrying all of them.

Of course it was Susanna, it was almost like the school was trying to tell him something. It was like he couldn’t turn a single corner without bumping into the girl. He bent down and began scooping up the fallen books. Susann looked like she was contemplating telling him to go away, but she accepted his help, and began to pick up her dropped books as well.

“Why do I always find you surrounded by books on the floor?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, I don’t usually come to the library as often as I have this week. But some of my friends… aren’t comfortable coming in here, so I offered to grab the books they needed.”

Tom glanced over the titles, and saw that they were all textbooks for various classes. He stood up and held his half of the stack. “Are you sure you can carry all of these?”

Susanna frowned. “No, I’m not. But I don’t think they would appreciate your help.” She didn’t sound mean when she said that, it was more like she was stating a fact.

“Oh? Why not?”

She shrugged again. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about all Slytherins being purists, and things like that. Well, a large group of my friends are equalists. They think that lineage shouldn’t matter in any situation for any reason. But that doesn’t mean they’re stupid enough to go parading around purists declaring their intentions.”

Tom sighed. “What are their intentions?”

Susanna laughed. “Equalists want to abolish the records that track bloodlines, and stop people from being seen as superior or inferior just because of who they were born to.” She frowned. “They have such noble goals, but unfortunately, most people cannot envision a future world where maybe people are only judged by their character, and not their blood.”

Tom’s eyes widened. “Wow. Are you like their official spokesperson or something?”

Susanna smiled. “No, of course not. I’m not part of their group, I just happen to be friends with the majority of them.”

Tom tilted his head. “Why aren’t you a part of it? Shouldn’t you, of all people, want to fight for equality?”

Susanna raised one eyebrow. “Me ‘of all people’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tom sighed. “I’m just saying, you were attacked because of your blood, so shouldn’t you want to create a world where no one else will be injured because of something as shallow as that.”

The girl shook her head. “But that’s part of the problem. The few people who know about what happened to me, they all look at me with pity in their eyes, like I’m some helpless victim. But the equalists need to stand strong. They need to be seen as untouchable, protected by their beliefs. I would only drag them down. Besides,” She lowered her voice. “don’t tell anyone I said that, but I’m pretty sure that no one takes them seriously because they’re girls. I don’t want to be the one to point that out to them, though.”

Tom put the books down on the table. “Well, you really got the worst hand, didn’t you? I mean, you’re a girl, you’re muggle born, and you actually have a mind of your own.”

Susanna frowned. “I don’t see how that last part is a bad thing.”

Tom shrugged. “If you didn’t have the ability to think for yourself, you wouldn’t have to feel the oppression that exists all around you, and you could just live a peaceful, thought ignorant, life.”

Susanna straightened out the pile of books in her arms. “Hey, can you just stack the ones you picked up on top of these? I really need to get going.”

Tom carefully added them to her stack that was already threatening to tip over again. He noticed that the last book in his hands was smaller than the others, a leather bound journal with gold words stamped across the front. ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Quidditch’. He chuckled, and as he placed it, he leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. “I think that you’ll be a great player someday.”

She turned and hurried away before Tom got a chance to see what her face looked like in response, and he heard a loud clatter in the hallway a moment later. He opened the library doors, and watched as Susanna piled up her stack, again. He was about to go help her, when he noticed that her brother, Henry, was already assisting.

Tom shook off the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. It didn’t matter to him one way or another whether or not he helped pick up the books dropped by an obviously clumsy person.


	9. Chapter 9

Tom had to force himself not to fall asleep in the middle of class, because what kind of message would that send to the younger students? Certainly not a good one. But the class was boring. Tom was very intelligent, and he could easily pass all of his classes with no effort at all. But he still had to at least make it look like he was trying.

As soon as the teacher dismissed them all with a wave of his hand, everyone rushed out of the classroom. He called out loud enough to be heard over the stampeding crowd. “Tom! Can you stick around for a minute?”

Tom wanted to roll his eyes, but was able to repress the urge. He waited for the herd of rushing students to pass, so he wouldn’t be struggling to push his way through. Once everyone had left the room, it was safe for the prefect to make his way to the front. He stood in front of the desk, uncertain of why he had been called out. “Is there something I can do for you, Professor Fredwin?”

The middle aged man frowned. “Tom, I’ve been looking over the practice tests that I assigned to be done over Christmas break. I know, I know, I should have gotten to them much sooner than this, but I’ve been busy. The point is, I was reading yours, and it really caught my attention. You wrote that there is much discrimination brought about by bloodlines. You mentioned that the solution would be to get rid of the trouble makers, but you were extremely vague about whether you believed the trouble makers to be the racists, or the muggle borns and half bloods.” 

Tom frowned with confusion. “Professor? I’m not sure I understand why you called me back…”

Professor Fredwin nodded. “No, I suppose you don’t. It’s just… for some reason, in my mind, as I was reading your paper I imagined that you were writing it to support the racists. But of course, I must be mistaken.” 

Tom tilted his head innocently. “Professor, I understand if you want to give me a lower grade for not elaborating on the exact subject of my paper.” He could tell that the professor still looked doubtful, so Tom brought in the big guns. “Sir, I don’t know if you’re aware, but my father was a muggle. Of course I support those of any lineage.”

There was a look of surprise on the professor’s face. He knew, like anyone else, that a purist wouldn’t say that they had any muggle blood in them, even under threat of death. So for Tom to admit he has a muggle parent, he definitely had to be telling the truth, and more than that, he definitely wasn’t one of the purists. Fredwin waved the matter aside. “No, no, it’s quite alright, Tom. Just be careful to be more specific next time, okay?”

Tom nodded. “Of course, professor. Was that all?” The man paused, then nodded, and watched as Tom scurried off. He had been so sure that the boy was one of the purists that filled the Slytherin house. He had had great plans for that boy. But he had no use for anyone with mud running through their veins, even if they were only a halfblood.

Tom sighed with relief. It would be pretty bad for a teacher to think that he was a purist, because he was sure that all purists who were caught, or confessed, were being interrogated to the third degree. Everyone was eager to find Susanna’s attacker so they could put the whole mess behind them.

As he walked through the corridors, Tom couldn’t help feeling conflicted. While it was true that his father was a muggle and his mother was a witch, he had never met either of them, and he had never known his own heritage until Dumbledore had visited him at the orphanage one day. And of course, there was the whole Slytherin’s heir thing. That was proof that he was born to lead the others in their quest to purify and cleanse the wizarding world.

Tom thought about how he had always considered himself to be better and more important than anyone else, but especially the mudbloods. When he saw people like Myrtle, who were weak and cowardly, he felt like he was justified in his beliefs. But he had a very difficult time figuring out what exactly it was that made him so much better than Susanna.

As he was lost in thought, he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, so it should have come as no surprise when he walked right into somebody else. There was a surprised oof, and Tom was agile enough to regain his balance, but the person he bumped into was not so lucky, and he watched as the student toppled to the floor.

He leaned down and extended one arm to help pull her back up, and couldn’t help rolling his eyes this time. “I feel like this is bordering on creepy and stalkerish, how often we just happen to bump into each other in this enormous school.”

Susanna avoided his arm, and got up on her own, without even using her hands. “I could say the same thing to you, considering the fact it’s always me who ends up getting knocked over.”

Tom smiled lightly. “I suppose that is true. Maybe it’s your secret kink. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

Susanna rolled her eyes, and Tom discovered right then that she was probably the best eye roller he had ever seen before. “You’re so… bizarre. I really really want to say something to you, that may sound very offensive, but…”

Tom grinned. “You don’t want to get on my bad side because you’re afraid that I’ll tell everyone about what you were doing the night you were attacked, what you were really doing, and you’d be kicked out of the school for sure.” Susanna’s eyes widened in fright, and Tom laughed. “I promise I won’t tell anybody.”

The Ravenclaw girl crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, for some reason, there’s something about you that makes that kind of hard to believe, even though I trust you with my life, I don’t trust you with my secret. Does that make any sense?” She shook her head. “No, don’t even answer me, I know that doesn’t.”

Tom nodded, and stayed silent, as requested. He knew that she hadn’t been so distant before Sirius had accidentally crashed their weird party of doing lineage tracing spells. She was a very intelligent girl, and she would have had to have been blind to miss the obvious disdain that had been draped over Sirius’s features. 

Susanna sighed. “Look, I’m sorry that I’m so constantly crashing into you, I can promise a million times over that it’s not intentional. I would never pursue another student so stalkerishly. That would just be inappropriate.”

Tom shrugged. “It’s fine, I don’t actually think that you’re a stalker, I just think that the two of us happen to be shrouded in coincidence and fate, and that it must just be meant to be.”

Susanna sighed. “Listen, I’m not sure what you do throughout the day, other than go to the library a lot more often than is normal for a boy your age, but I do know this much: you don’t believe in coincidence or fate.”

Tom narrowed his eyes. “Yeah? And how do you know that?”

Susanna shrugged. “It’s all very obvious.” She leaned close and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “I bet I know what you do believe in.” She lowered her voice even more, so there was no sound other than the breath leaving her mouth. “Santa Claus.” Then she seemed to realize how close she had gotten to Tom, because she jumped back and tried to hide the growing blush that was covering her face.

Tom laughed softly. He was used to girls of all calibers throwing themselves at him unabashedly, and he was not at all used to any girl backing away like he was on fire, and had caught the worse disease in all of history. “Hey, there’s no need to leave so soon. Maybe we could just find a nice, quiet place to talk.”

Susanna frowned, and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. After a pause that lasted way longer than it needed to have, she nodded. “Well, alright. Actually, no, it depends on what you want to talk about. If it’s something stupid that only boys would understand, then no, I’d prefer to get back to the very important stuff I was doing before you sent me toppling to the ground.”

Tom nodded. “Of course. I wouldn’t want to keep you from doing your very important stuff. Your very vague and important stuff, I might add. So what would you be willing to talk about? And just to warn you, if it’s silly things that only girls would understand, then I’d still stick around and talk with you, because I rather like it.”

Susanna’s blush deepened, and Tom couldn’t even find it within himself to reprimand himself. He was acting like all those cheap girls that he despised for throwing themselves at him so easily, and it was making him feel rather uncomfortable. Also, there was the problem of if Sirius walked in on them again, there would be no way to appease the older boy a second time. He shuddered at the thought of losing his authority among the group, but also, for some strange reason, at the thought of losing Susanna.

He sighed. “Actually, the matter I wanted to discuss with you is pretty serious, official school business stuff. Well, I’m a prefect, and we’re all investigating your attack, of course, but this morning I heard from Myrtle that you were attacked again just last night while on your way to dinner…?”

Susanna got a guarded look on her face. “Yes, that’s correct. But obviously it was nothing serious, considering you saw me walking around on my own two feet this morning.”

Tom nodded. “Yeah, walking around, letting all your library books tumble to the floor, over all it sounds like a very healthy sort of thing. But that’s not what I’m concerned with. Did you see the face of your attacker? Can you identify any unique features that you saw on him or her?”

Susanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, probably figuring out the best way to word her statement. She hesitated, then spoke slowly. “No, I didn’t see anything that would help you identify my attacker. All I know is that it was a guy, but even that I can’t be one hundred percent sure about. I just don’t know why… I mean, haven’t they done enough damage to me already? What did I ever do to deserve this? Someone needs to tell those guys that if they don’t watch their backs, then everything they’ve ever done is going to come back to haunt them.”

Tom nodded. “Okay, I get it. Don’t worry, once we catch whoever did this, we can all go back to our normal lives, and you won’t have to live in constant fear-”

Susanna frowned. “Is that what you think? That I’m some poor victim who’s never going to be able to get over what was done to her, so she’s always going to be glancing behind her back and peering around corners, out of fear of who else might come out when given the chance? Because that’s not true. I’m strong, and I can take care of myself. There’s obviously an unfair advantage when it’s seven or eight against one, and last night I had to stay contained to keep my best friend safe. But I’m not living in constant fear.” Her face was red, and her voice cracked. “I’m not afraid…” 

Tom pulled her into a hug, and her forehead rested against his shoulder. She was taking deep breaths of air, and her shoulders were shaking. Tom was aware of how vulnerable they were, just standing around in the middle of the hallway, but he didn’t want to ask her to move, because she would probably run away instead of accepting the comfort that she obviously needed. 

He made shushing noises, and rubbed small gentle circles on her back. She sniffled a few times. “I’m not afraid…”

Tom sighed. “Hush, it’s okay. It’s okay to be a afraid after something bad happens to you. I promise, it’s normal.” He wanted to promise her that she was safe, but there was no way for him to keep that promise. Not when he knew that her attackers were still out there, and more likely than not, they would never get caught, and they would someday grow up and continue to terrorize the people who didn’t have pure blood.

And Tom felt a little disturbed that he wanted to comfort Susanna so much. She was just a mudblood, a Ravenclaw, and there was nothing special about her… but Tom knew that that wasn’t true. Susanna was different than any girl he’d ever met before. She was brave enough to try flying just to defy the odds, and even after such a vicious attack, she had been able to bounce back. 

There was a gasp, and Tom looked up in time to see a flash of green and silver robes before they disappeared around the corner. He stepped away from Susanna, and swore under his breath. This wasn’t going to be good.


	10. Chapter 10

Tom pushed Susanna aside, and it was only by luck that she didn’t topple over backwards, even though she was already unbalanced. She sniffled, and blinked a few times. She turned to look in the direction that he was staring so intently towards, but she didn’t see anything. She turned back to him. “Tom…?”

He ignored the girl, and began to walk as quickly as he could, in the same direction as whatever Slytherin had caught him hugging a mudblood. There would be no way for him to bull shit his way out of that one. 

But rather than taking one of the secret passageways that he knew so well, in order to catch the person before they could get back to Slytherin house and report his behavior to Sirius, Tom hurried to the library. He peered in, and saw that there unsurprisingly wasn’t anyone around other than the librarian. No one wanted to be stuck inside on such a nice day.

Tom contemplated, just for a moment, simply asking the man to corroborate his story, and tell anyone who might be interested that he had been in the library since the end of class. But there was always the possibility that the man would refuse, and then Tom would be at the disadvantage of not having surprise on his side. 

Instead, he waited a few minutes, until the older man turned a page in the book that his eyes were practically glued to. Tom would have to figure out the title and borrow it sometime, since it was clearly riveting, but he had other things on his mind at the moment. He leaped forward, his wand extended, and silently laid three of his favorite curses on the professor simultaneously.

Normally the teachers at Hogwarts were trained and fully prepared to defend themselves against attackers, but Tom had caught the man off guard, and besides, Tom was obviously one of the most powerful wizards in the school, including the teachers. It wasn’t his fault that they were so weak.

The teacher’s head slumped forward a little bit as the spells took effect, but a few minutes later, he sat back up, and his eyes returned to the book he was enamored with. Tom chuckled to himself. He went and grabbed a random book off of a shelf, and sat down at one of the tables. He opened the book to a page that was a few chapters in, to make it look like he had been reading it.

A few minutes later, somebody entered the library, and Tom had to force himself not to look up in anticipation of who was coming. If he did, that would be as good as just admitting his guilt, which was something that his pride would never allow, even if he didn’t mind hanging out with…

Son of a gun, she was walking over to him, her hands balled into fists at her sides, and a determined look on her face. Susanna easily spotted Tom, since he was the only student currently residing in the library, and he gulped at the hard look on her face. She stopped next to his table and took a deep breath, presumably to calm her nerves.

She sighed. “Alright, this time I did knowingly search you out. But that’s only because you’re being a complete jackass about everything, and I think I know why. You’re friend, when he walked in on us before, he didn’t just look annoyed or mad. He looked disgusted. Disgusted that you would ever hang out with a filthy mudblood like me, right?” Tom opened his mouth to defend himself, but Susanna barreled on like he wasn’t even there. She yanked up the bottom of her shirt to reveal the scar, which would definitely be a permanent mark on her body, thanks to Tom’s healing spell. “You know, you’re friend has a very distinctive voice. Nothing that I could prove for sure, but I’ve spent all day wondering why it sent shivers down my back when I first heard it in the dining hall. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I know better than most people why you should never assume that someone is guilty by association. But I can’t do this anymore. Whatever it is that’s between us, if there even was anything, I officially declared it over. And I know that in the end, you probably don’t even care, but it’s what needs to be said. I have no idea what sick games you and your friends are into, but I do know for sure that I want absolutely no part in any of it. Do you understand?”

Susanna turned to storm away, and Tom didn’t bother trying to stop her. There wasn’t much he could say in the way of a defense, and besides, she deserved to not be in the company of someone who had done nothing but lie to her, and whose friends had attacked her. But as he watched, he noticed the obvious hesitation as she grabbed one of the door handles. Tom realized that she was waiting for him to hurry over and defend himself.

He was tempted, but at the same time, he knew that his Slytherin groupies would be approaching any minute, and he didn’t want to be caught trying to play nice with a mudblood. It would be for the best for her to stay away from him. She was completely ruining Tom for someone that had only known him for a few days.

Susanna huffed in irritation, and hurried out of the library. Tom relaxed back into his chair, and skimmed the boring pages of the book that he had grabbed blindly. It was only too easy to slip back into the facade of being the perfect student and role model, and the one that the other boys looked up to as they planned on completely ridding the world of those nasty pests, otherwise known as mudbloods. 

Almost an entire hour passed before Sirius made his way into the library. He looked around with his nose in the air, like he thought he would catch some kind of incurable disease from stepping anywhere near the books. For a brief moment, Tom considered casually diving under the table and hiding, from his own best friend.

But Tom was not a coward, no matter what anyone else said, and no matter what else he was. That was one trait that he found to be intolerable. Sirius spotted Tom quickly, though there were a couple more students now than before, and he hurried over. He dropped down into the seat across from Tom, and crossed his arms over his chest, a grim smile on his face.

His voice came out soft and even, much more controlled than Tom would have expected from his friend. “Listen, Tom, we need to have a talk.” He lowered his voice and leaned forward, closer to Tom. “Whatever’s going on between you and that mudblood is getting out of hand. And don’t even try to deny it. I knew as soon as I saw you two together that, for some reason, you find yourself attracted to someone who is so utterly beneath you. And for the life of me, I just can’t fathom that. But that’s just me. To be honest, I found the whole idea to be rather amusing. But now it’s not just me who sees what you have with that… girl. Do you want to know who saw you hugging her in the middle of the hallway like you didn’t care who would see?”

Tom shrugged, carefully keeping a playful grin on his face, even though he felt rather miserable inside. “Please, do share with the rest of the class.”

Sirius frowned. “It was Avery. And you know that the kid can’t keep his mouth shut, even if you offered to pay him a hundred galleons. He was in a very excited state when he burst into the common room, blabbing on and on about your dirty little secret.”

Tom raised one eyebrow. “Hey, you did the same thing, didn’t you? You tried to tell everyone that I have a thing going on with Su-... with a mudblood. And you know that that would never happen.”

Sirius sighed and leaned back, rubbing his face tiredly. “Tom, don’t you understand that you have an obligation to lead us? You are the one who stepped up and claimed to have found a way to get rid of the inferior race for good, but instead you’re out fraternizing with someone who is worth less than shit.”

Tom suddenly stood up, and dropped the book he had been pretending to read. It dropped with a thud onto the table, and Tom glowered at his friend. His voice came out as a soft hiss, scarier than Nagini’s voice. “Now you listen here. The mudblood that you’re referring to does in fact have a name, and it’s Susanna. I would appreciate it greatly if you start referring to her as such. She’s proven her courage more times than I can count in just the short time that I’ve known her, and it was definitely more often than you. She is good and honest and brave and doesn’t deserve such crap from you. That girl is twice the person that you’ll ever be. Do you understand?”

Sirius looked unfazed by the soft outburst. Being Tom’s friend had never been easy, it had been a job filled with many ups and downs. Sirius stood up abruptly, and Tom felt a quick jolt of satisfaction that he was able to tower over his friend by at least a few inches. Sirius frowned. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I mean, I understand the appeal from a strictly aesthetic point of view, but beyond that, she’s just filth, but I don’t think that I’ve ever realized before how much a boner can affect your decisions. Maybe we just need to get you someone to occupy your time with. A nice distraction, perhaps?”

Tom didn’t even consider it for a second. He already knew that he would never want to take off his clothes for any random old pureblood that happened to wander into his plans, by crossing his path.

“Sirius, I suggest that you leave now. Head back to the Slytherin common room, or the dorms, or somewhere else that you feel nice and comfortable in.” HIs voice lowered to a growl. “Because if you keep talking that way, I’ll want to know that you at least got a nice last view. And then I’ll kill you.”

Sirius’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t quite realized before the extent of Tom’s aggressiveness, at least not when it came to some mudblood girl. There was a part of Sirius that knew Tom was just exaggerating, because Tom would never hurt his own friend. But there was another part of him that scared. Afraid to keep talking for fear of the consequences.

Tom decided that rather than force Sirius to leave, after all of the effort that it must have taken for the older boy to enter the room that he considered taboo, it would be left up to him to be responsible for who was allowed to stay and who was supposed to go. He was all set to go, but Sirius called out to stop him, despite his misgivings.

“Tom, wait!”

Tom turned around, his hands on his hips, and one eyebrow raised. “Is there something that you needed? Or are you just planning on doing something productive and yelling at me for a little while, and then going after Susanna like she deserves whatever punishment you feel fit to give her, simply because of the way that she was born.”

Sirius shrugged awkwardly. “I don’t know. I mean, I want you to be happy, but I also know that you can’t be happy with her in the long run. Not when she’s just a mudblood.”

Tom frowned. “Oh, did I forget to mention it? Silly me. Well, anyways, there’s something that you should probably get a chance to know about your new girlfriend sooner rather than later. Like the fact that I’m almost one hundred percent certain that she is the one and only heir of Ravenclaw?”

Sirius scoffed, but he had a serious look on his face. He couldn’t just ignore something like that, as much as he desperately wanted to. He gulped. “So if your ability to talk to snakes, and eventually open Slytherin’s chamber, come from you being Slytherin’s heir, then what gifts does Susanna get for being Ravenclaw’s heir?”

Tom shrugged. “Well, for one thing, she has the lost diadem in her possession. You know, the one that nobody has seen since Helena Ravenclaw’s daughter ran off with it in hopes of gaining knowledge and power from it. Clearly it was a wasted attempt on her, since no one would ever be dumb enough to steal from someone so powerful just for a small trinket. Well, that just happens to belong to one Susanna, a mudblood. Apparently it’s been passed down through the generations, and none of her muggle ancestors ever figured out what they held in their sticky grips.

Sirius didn’t look any happier about the situation. “You said that you’re almost certain. I just don’t think that you can make any of the proper, necessary changes in your relationship until you know for sure. Otherwise she could just turn out to be an imposter, or someone who really likes picking up random lost crowns that they find.”

Tom didn’t seem interested in giving his friend a response, so instead he turned and left. There would be time to talk to his other friends, and force them to see reason. But for now, this conversation was over.


	11. Chapter 11

Tom started to return to his dorm room, but changed his mind halfway there. There was no hurry to get back, since he already had all of his homework finished, and there wasn’t really any other reason to return. He knew that his friends were probably mad at him, and he would prefer to have civil conversations, which was something that he wouldn’t be able to get while their tempers were still hot.

The prefect decided that since it was a nice day out, he may as well go outside. Maybe watch whatever quidditch practice that was going on, because there was sure to be one on a day like today. The captains might have even agreed to all use the field together, since everyone seemed more amicable when it was such a nice day.

He walked outside, and went over to the quidditch pitch. Everyone was on the ground, holding their brooms, and Tom wondered why they weren’t flying around. He saw that the Ravenclaw captain, Simon Bulrong, had his hands on his hips, and a stern look on his face. He was looking down at a familiar Ravenclaw, and Tom rolled his eyes. 

Ever since she had stormed out of the library last week, Tom had been seeing Susanna almost everywhere that he went around the large school. He had written it off as a coincidence the first time, but now it was just plain weird. 

She currently seemed to be arguing with the captain for some reason, and Tom wasn’t quite sure who was winning. Susanna raised her eyebrows as she turned on the full effects of her puppy dog eyes, which Tom had never even seen before. 

That didn’t seem to work though, because the captain just shook his head, and pressed his lips together. Tom went a little closer so that he could hear what was actually going on. Susanna crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not bloody fair, and you know it!”

Simon closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before looking at the girl again. “I didn’t make the rules, Susanna. Unless you fancy marching down to the Minister of Magic and demanding that he change the entire bloody law, you can’t play with us.”

Susanna whined. “But you’re not even playing, it’s only practice! Surely even that can’t be illegal?”

Tom was almost contemplating interfering, though he wasn’t even sure what he would say or which of the two Ravenclaws he would side with. Probably Simon, so that he wouldn’t be encouraging criminal activity. Tom was pulled out of his thoughts as someone rudely brushed by him, and Tom recognized Susanna’s older brother, Henry.

Henry looked pissed, though it was hard to say who exactly he was currently mad at. He made a growling sound under his breath, alerting Susanna and Simon to his presence. “Bulrong!” he snapped. “Stop harassing my sister!”

The captain threw his hands up in frustration. “If anything, she’s harassing me. She wants me to let her play, even though it’s illegal, and has been for as long as anyone can remember. I just don’t know what you expect me to be able to do in this situation. I hope that you can talk some sense into your sister, Matheus. Because someone certainly has to.”

Henry rolled his eyes, then turned to Susanna. “What is wrong with you?” he hissed. “You’ve never shown any interest in quidditch before, and you certainly have never been bold enough to blatantly ask someone to break the law for you.”

Tom listened carefully, and he was pretty sure that Henry had to have known that his sister was intent on learning the wizard sport. Susanna glared at her brother, and didn’t bother keeping her voice low the way that Henry was. “This is so stupid! You’re going to side with him, aren’t you? Well that’s no bloody fair! I deserve a chance to prove that I can be as good as any boy!”

Henry sighed, and pulled his sister into a hug. He whispered something to her that Tom couldn’t hear, and her face went blank. He began to walk away, though he kept a tight grip on the girl’s wrist so she wouldn’t have the chance to just bolt away. Susanna was just staring at the ground as she walked away from the quidditch pitch, and Tom felt safe.

Suddenly her head darted up, and she was staring straight at Tom. She scowled, since she was already in a bad mood, and his presence was clearly not helping at all. She yanked her arm away from Henry’s grasp, and stormed over to Tom. “Have you been following me? It seems like everywhere I turn, there you are.”

Tom sighed at the accusation. He didn’t want them to keep bumping into each other any more than she did. “Is it really so hard to believe that I’m not just here to watch the practice?”

Susanna nodded. “Of course it is. This is the Ravenclaw team, meaning you have no business to be watching their practice, and it could even be considered cheating. Cheating is just a form of lying. Lying can have some serious consequences, Tom. But of course, you already know all about that, right?”

Tom couldn’t help the small frown. “I never lied to you about anything.”

Susanna snorted. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. I don’t know why I ever thought that you were different than the others. I should have known not to trust a weasley pure-blooded Slytherin prat! I can’t believe that I ever trusted you!”

Tom frowned at that outburst. Not because of the content of her words, but because of the smell of her breath. It was the familiar scent of butterscotch, and Tom sighed. “Susanna, as much as I’m loath to ask this… have you been drinking?”

The girl shrugged. “What’s it matter if I was? That doesn’t make it right for me to be excluded from quidditch, even though I could be so good at it if I was just given a chance, or for you to be following me around everywhere I go, like some kind of creep.”

Henry grabbed Susanna’s elbow, and tried to pull her away. “Come on. If you stick around here, you’re going to get in trouble. You should just get back to the dorms and take a nap. I’ll have a hangover potion ready for you as soon as you wake up.”

Susanna shook her head stubbornly. “No, I want to stay here with Tom. He’s my friend.”

Henry attempted to tug his sister away, once again. “I’m not going to let you stick around here and bother this innocent bloke. Besides, I thought you said that you hated him?”

Tom kept his face the same, but inside, he felt a strange tightening in his chest at that. He couldn’t blame Susanna for hating him, but that didn’t explain why he felt so… guilty. About everything.

He cleared his throat. “If it’s alright with you, Henry, I’ll make sure that she gets back to her dorm safe, and that she does get a proper nap. I reckon she looks pretty tired, from lack of a decent amount of sleep.”

The Ravenclaw shook his head emphatically. “It most certainly is not alright. And the only reason she hasn’t been sleeping well is because she’s still upset about something, I’m not quite sure what, but it’s something that involves you. You’re practically all that she’ll talk about, and trust me, it’s not very pleasant things that she’s saying most of the time.”

Tom tilted his head. “‘Most of the time’? That implies that there are times where she does have pleasant things to say about me. What are some of the pleasant things that she’s said about me?”

Susanna tapped Tom on the arm impatiently. “Are you stupid? I would never say anything nice about you, you lying, traitorous, murderous, backstabbing…” She sighed. “Tom… I had to break it off with you. I’m sure that somewhere deep down you actually do care, and I’m sorry, but there’s no way that I could be friends with you if you’re going to keep such awful company.” She gave him a knowing look, but didn’t elaborate, probably because her brother wasn’t aware that she knew who had attacked her.

Tom smiled softly. “Just let me take her back. Maybe we’ll talk along the way, and she’ll stop being so mad at me.”

Henry sighed, and stepped back in defeat. Susanna happily linked her fingers between Tom’s. Before they could leave, he grabbed Tom’s arm. “You know, she’s my only sister, and if anything ever happened to her…”

Tom nodded. “I understand.” He really did, despite the fact that he had no siblings of his own, and he had despised the other orphan children at Wool’s Orphanage, he understood how sad it would be if anything else were to happen to Susanna. The poor girl had already been through so much pain, as much as she insisted on hiding it, and she didn’t deserve anything else in her life to go wrong.

Henry stepped back, and allowed Tom and Susanna to begin the walk back to the castle. When they were halfway there, Susanna stumbled, and fell down before Tom could catch her. She was still gripping Tom’s hand, and ended up pulling him down on top of her. She laughed. “Tom… I’m sorry about what I said. I’ve known who you are for a while, so it shouldn’t have come as such a shock to me when that part of you was actually revealed. I guess I had just assumed that I would never see another side to you, that you would never let me see another side. But now I have.” She frowned. “I know that we’re still practically strangers, and I should ask anything so big from you. It isn’t fair to you.”

Tom raised one eyebrow. “Yeah? What were you planning on asking me?”

Susanna blushed. “I was going to… ask you to drop all of your violent, evil friends, and find some new ones. But it’s not fair of me to ask you to choose.”

Tom sighed. “Susanna, the truth is… you don’t know everything about me, not even now. And I really don’t feel like getting into all of that right now, when you’re drunk and probably won’t even remember this conversation in the morning.”

Susanna frowned and shook her head. “Now that’s not true, Tom. I always remember all of our conversations. I enjoy them so much, I can’t bear to lose them. Especially since they’re probably all I’ll ever get from you.”

The Slytherin shook his head. “You can’t do that. You can’t say that you’ve enjoyed all of our conversations when there were clearly plenty of times that I was just so awful to you.”

Susanna darted forward, and before Tom had a chance to react, she whispered in his ear. “I’m only sorry that I’m a mudblood. Because I’ll never be good enough for you, right?” She stood up without wavering even once. “Thanks for the help, but I think I can make it back on my own from here.”

Tom nodded mutely. He couldn’t help thinking that maybe the girl hadn’t been nearly as drunk as he had originally thought. He wondered how much of their conversation was real, and what tiny parts were only brought on by the butterbeer that she had been drinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know if there's actually alcoholic content in butterbeer. Plenty of underage children order it in canon, but I don't know what the legal drinking age is in Scotland, so that might mean nothing. Either way, I liked the idea of writing a drunkish scene.


	12. Chapter 12

Susanna gratefully accepted the potion that her brother handed her. He had a stern look on his face, but even he wasn’t cruel enough to yell at the girl while she was still getting over her hangover. She sighed. “I am never drinking a single butterbeer ever again. Or any alcohol, for that matter. Henry, next time I even think of picking up something to drink, I want you to remind me of how much pain I’m in right now.”

Henry sighed. “Just drink the potion and be grateful that you’ve never been this stupid at home. There’s no way I’d be able to make any potions for you there.”

Susanna tipped back the bottle, and let the thick blue liquid slide down her throat. She coughed a few times, and then her awful migraine began to clear. She grinned. “Well, this is definitely way better. You know what I said about the drinking thing? I take it back. As long as I’m not being excessive, there’s absolutely no need for you to try and intervene.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Alright, Susanna. I’ve been patient. I let you have your inebriation instead of using magic to make you sober again. I’ve even let you sleep it off, instead of just ending it when I could have this afternoon. Now you’ve had a hangover potion, and your senses have returned to you. So please tell me why you felt the need to go get hammered in the first place.”

Susanna sighed, and rubbed her eyes tiredly. “I was kind of hoping that you would just let it go. But I know you too well.” She took a deep breath. “You know how up until last week, I spent a lot of time with Tom?” Henry nodded patiently. “Well, it turns out that he and his friends are just crazy elitists who have the insane notion that purebloods are so much better than muggle borns. So I told him that anything that was between us is over, and I left.” She let out that breath. “I was hoping that he would come after me, but I guess I was hoping for too much, right?”

Henry sighed, and sat down on the bed next to his sister. “Susanna… he saved your life, when he could have easily walked away and pretended that he hadn’t seen you. It’s not unreasonable for you to have expected more. What is unreasonable is that this guy was stupid enough to hurt my baby sister. I can kick his arse for you, if you want.”

Susanna smiled, and even if it wasn’t her usual brilliant grin, it was the closest thing to that that she’d had in awhile. She playfully bumped her shoulder against Henry’s. “No, you idiot. I don’t want anyone to ruin his perfect arse.” She blushed, and Henry hooted at her.

“Oh Susanna!” They both laughed. 

The siblings were interrupted as Myrtle walked into the dorm room. She smiled. “Oh, hey Susanna. It’s nice to hear you laughing again.”

Susanna smiled. “It feels nice to laugh again. I don’t know what was wrong with me, getting so upset over a boy. If that ever happens again, you need to give me a good reminder of how much pain I just went through. Okay?”

Myrtle chuckled. “Oh come on, we both know that the second you’re feeling better, you’re just going to revoke that and tell me that it’s no longer necessary.”  
Susanna grinned. “Oh, you know me too well.”

The girl with the big classes crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, it’s not like we’re best friends for nothing, right?”

Henry stood up, and stretched. “Alright, well, I think that this is my cue to take my leave.” He made his face serious again. “Susanna, if you need anything, you know where to find me.” He gave his little sister a hug before leaving the room.

Myrtle sat down on the spot that Henry had just been occupying. “Alright, Susanna, I actually came here to warn you.”

Susanna tilted her head curiously. “Warn me? About what?”

Myrtle sighed. “Well, apparently someone on the Ravenclaw team can’t keep their bloody mouth shut, and they’ve had no problem in letting everyone know about how you were trying to get in on a practice. There’s a few teachers on the warpath, and I’m not sure how they would punish you, considering the fact that you never actually flew, but if you use being drunk as an excuse then they will definitely punish you. But mostly the problem is a group of Slytherin boys who couldn’t wait to give us their opinion. Believe me, it’s not pretty. No one’s going to blame you if you just want to hide out here for a while. I’ll bring you up some dinner, if you want.”

Susanna was almost tempted by the offer, for a moment. But then that feeling passed, and was replaced by her pride. Sure, it would be awkward to go down there knowing what was waiting for her, but she would be a coward if she hid, and Susanna was not someone who liked to call herself a coward. 

She stood up, a determined look in her eyes. “Myrtle, I understand if you want to go ahead of me or something…”

Myrtle scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I’m your best friend, Susanna. You’re my best friend. I’m not going to let you walk in there alone. Not after everything you’ve ever done for me.”

Susanna pulled her friend into a hug. “Well, then shall we head to dinner?”

Myrtle chuckled. “What a perfect plan.”

The two walked into the Great Hall, and though they weren’t anywhere close to being late, everyone seemed to know the second that they entered. Susanna didn’t even look at the Slytherin table, she just ignored them completely, and made sure to sit on the bench that would let her back face those nasty wretched purists. 

Susanna sighed. She couldn’t classify that entire house as purists and elitists and villains just because it was true of a small group. That was exactly what the purists had done to the muggle borns, and that had certainly not ended well. 

Susanna managed to successfully get through an entire meal without paying any attention to those who were whispering rather rude things about her. And apparently it was true that Susanna couldn’t get in trouble for simply asking to fly, since none of the professors had approached her yet.

Once the meal was over, Susanna and Myrtle made sure to lose themselves in the crowd of Ravenclaws, who were all too happy to protect their own. Almost the entire house stuck together all the way back to the dorms, and Susanna would have thanked them, but she knew that they hadn’t done it to earn her thanks. 

Susanna grinned at her best friend. “Well? We survived, didn’t we?”

Myrtle laughed. “Oh, yes, we survived. We shall live to fight another day. It’s just lucky that Dippet wasn’t in the mood for one of those grand speeches that he does so often.”

Susanna nodded as she changed into her pajamas. “Yup, that’s us. The lucky ones.” Once all six girls were lying in their beds, the lights flickered out, and Susanna sighed. “Good night, Myrtle.”

Myrtle whispered back, so she wouldn’t disturb their other roommates. “Good night, Susanna.”

***

Avery stared down at Nagini who looked up at him with those cold maroon eyes. He sighed. “Alright, listen, I know that you’re loyal to Tom and all, but he’s a failure. He’s never going to amount to anything if he keeps this behavior up. We need to hold an… intervention, of sorts. One that will end his addiction to that wretched filthy mudblood. Don’t you want Tom to be healthy again?”

As though she had understood his speech, the snake slithered aside, and allowed Avery to approach the tapestry on the wall. He wasn’t sure why Nagini had been guarding it, but he knew that it had to do with Tom, and he knew that he wanted to figure it out as soon as possible. For the sake of keeping Tom happy and healthy, of course.

After a few minutes, Nagini started hissing at Avery, and he hurried to the end of the hall to duck around the corner. He quickly cast a spell that would prevent him from being detected. When he peered around the bend, he saw Tom standing there in the hallway, petting Nagini’s head while crooning strange hisses at her that could only be understood by the snake herself. 

Avery made sure to keep a safe distance as he followed Tom. He had known something was up as soon as the older boy had slipped out of bed after hours, and he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t meeting up with that girl. It would be unhealthy to give a recovering addict another hit.

They ended up going all the way down to the first floor, and Avery couldn’t help rolling his eyes. First they had gone all the way up to the seventh floor, and now they were going all the way back down to the dung- Avery stopped a few seconds before he was about to collide with Tom, who had stopped outside the lavatories.

It was a very strange way to go about things if he needed to use the lavatory, and as Avery looked closer, he realized that it was a girls’ lavatory. He followed Tom inside, and ducked into one of the open stalls. Tom went over to the sink construct in the middle. He raised one eyebrow at Nagini, and she hissed something back at him. Tom chuckled, and nodded.

He turned to the sink, took a deep breath, and Avery decided to cast a recording spell. He wanted to be able to use anything he heard next against Tom, in the name of getting their real leader back. Tom began hissing a few words of parseltongue, and then, to Avery’s amazement, the entire sink structure came apart.

Tom beckoned for his snake to follow as he gracefully jumped down, and Avery decided to follow. He wanted to know where this was all heading. He used a sound absorbance spell so his shoes didn’t clatter against the… bones? that covered the ground. He followed, and kept his recording spell going the entire time. Tom stopped in front of a scary looking face, and hissed a few more words. A stone snake slithered around, and the thick stone door swung outwards.

Tom went inside, and Nagini slithered after him. When the door started to close, Avery hurried to slip in as well. He looked around, and was almost certain that they were in the Chamber of Secrets that Tom had been telling them stories about for so long.

Tom looked around, but Avery wasn’t sure what the older boy was searching for. Maybe the monster that had been designed to kill mudbloods? But whatever it was, Tom seemed relieved to have not found anything. He hissed to Nagini, and there was suddenly a loud rumble, and the entire stone runway shook.

Avery fell onto his butt, even as Tom continued to stand perfectly upright. Avery watched in fascination as slowly, a large snake slithered into the cavern. It had to be at least fifteen metres long. Each of it’s teeth looked like some sort of deadly weapon. Tom looked as surprised as Avery to see the beast, but if it had belonged to Salazar Slytherin, it was perfectly logical for it to be a big, ugly snake.

Tom hissed loudly at the snake, and it turned to slither back into one of those large pipes. Tom turned to leave, and Avery made sure to follow close behind so he wouldn’t get trapped down here. 

Once the two boys had returned to their rooms in the dungeons, Avery ended the recording spell. He would test it out tomorrow, and see if it would be enough to get in on his own. Because while it would be nearly impossible to get away with murdering that mudblood girl himself, a giant snake would have no problem. And once the mudblood was gone, Tom would once again belong solely to the boys.


	13. Chapter 13

Tom was confident in his plans. He had always been rather clever, so it would be unlikely that this would fail, unless there was some kind of variable that he had overlooked. But that was unlikely. Tom had found the Chamber of Secrets, but he would never share it’s location with the other Slytherins. 

Instead, he was going to go down and visit the basilisk as often as possible, and convince it to chose to lay dormant forever. Honestly, he had more faith in his ability to change the basilisk’s mind than his ability to change the minds of the other boys. But with at least that out of the way, Tom could quit the group. It would be tough, but he would do it, and everything would be better. Susanna wouldn’t hate him anymore, and he would be able to actually feel good about himself. Susanna would probably suggest that he come out as a half-blood, but he wasn’t going to go that far.

Tom headed back to his dorms with a satisfied bounce to his step. He was too excited by the prospect of his plan to listen close enough to hear the sounds of Avery following. If he had, then maybe everything would have been different. But as it was, Tom was in too good a mood. He had a good plan line up and ready to go, and everything would be perfect.

When they returned to the dorms, Tom quietly slipped inside, without having to go through too much trouble. He quickly got into his pajamas in the dark, then got into bed, where he quickly went to sleep. It was pretty late, and he was pretty tired. 

Avery watched the whole quick even with a smug look. He would have to come up with a good plan to get their old leader back. The one who wasn’t completely soft, and who was willing to do whatever it takes to rid the world of mudbloods. Right now, Tom was sick. It was nothing fatal, just something he’d caught from that Ravenclaw mudblood. But it was perfectly curable, and once Avery got rid of the distraction, Tom would remember who he was, and he would thank Avery for saving him. Avery was just sure of it.

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, Tom sat on the side of the Slytherin table that would allow him to watch over the rest of the room. He wanted to know when Susanna arrived. He had to tell her the truth. The whole truth. Including the part where he was currently doing everything in his power to make sure that nothing bad would happen. He wanted to make Susanna, and all of the other muggle borns, feel safer.

He watched patiently, ignoring the way that the others were staring at him strangely. Sirius got up and moved to the other side of the table so he was blocking Tom’s view. He raised one eyebrow. “Uh, hey? Are you alright?”

Tom blinked a few times in surprise, then nodded. “Yeah. I’m good. How about you guys?”

Sirius frowned. “Well, we’d be better if you started acting like yourself again, Tom. This isn’t the real you. You shouldn’t be so enamored with some mudblood.”

Susanna entered the Great Hall, and Tom looked away from Sirius. He took a deep breath. If he wanted to make a change, then he would have to show people that he wasn’t afraid. Even if he was actually terrified. 

It wasn’t so much that Tom was scared of the wrath of his peers. He was far stronger than them, and would be able to handle whatever they tried to throw at him. He was far more afraid that Susanna was going to hate him forever. He clenched his hands into fists. Even if that happened, even if it was too late for him to repair things with Susanna, he was going to go through with his plans anyways. He had to prove that change was possible.

Tom stood up, and hurried over to where Susanna was standing. He was painfully conscious of everybody slowing their conversations to stare at him. He was Slytherin, so even if he was generally known as a top student and good person, his face was still associated with those known most for their purist views. And there he was, walking towards a muggle born with an intense urgency in his steps.

It took Susanna a moment longer to realize that almost all the eyes in the room were on her, and she turned to see Tom approaching. Susanna frowned once he was closer. “What do you want?”

The hurt tone in her voice was expected. Tom gulped. “Susanna… I need to talk to you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Then talk.”

He sighed. He didn’t blame her for making things difficult. She had the right to be too wary to go anywhere alone with him after all she’d been through. Tom regretted that it was his fault that her smile was gone, so he was going to go through with this. If all he accomplished was complete public humiliation, then maybe Susanna would laugh, and remember how to look happy.

Tom nodded. He spoke in a soft voice. “The truth is, I’m a Parseltongue. It means that I can talk with snakes. It’s a trait passed down from Salazar Slytherin. The way that you’re the heir of Ravenclaw, I’m the heir of Slytherin. Being Parseltongue, I alone can access the Chamber of Secrets. You may have heard of it from legends and tales. I found the Chamber, and I have plans to destroy it forever. I’m going to ruin Slytherin’s monster so it can’t hurt anyone anymore, especially not… muggleborns. I just thought that you deserved to know that.”

Susanna’s eyes had widened more and more as Tom talked. She looked up at him, and Tom recognized that look of hope. He had seen it before, back at the orphanage. Whenever potential parents came, all of the kids would look at them so hopefully, wanting desperately to be adopted. 

She also looked like she was worried, though. Worried that this was some kind of trick. Tom knew that it would probably be a long time before he was fully trusted by Susanna again, but he had to try. She spoke softly. “Is this for real?”

Tom nodded. “Yeah, it’s for real, I promise. I’d say it even louder, except then I’d probably get in a lot of trouble. I mean, I don’t think there’s any specific rules against being an heir of a founder, but I’d rather be on the safe side. Unless you really want me to, because then I totally will.”

Susanna shook her head. “No, that’s alright.” She paused. “Why- why are you doing this, though? I mean, I thought that you were, you know…”

“Evil?” Susanna shrugged. “Well, admittedly, I haven’t exactly made the best choices in life. But you’re the reason that I want to change, Susanna. I want to be better for you. I want you to be able to feel safe here, and I want you to be happy.”

Susanna’s eyes widened. “Is this for real?” Her eyes drooped down a bit. “Tom, if you want to change, that’s great, but it has to be something that you’re doing for yourself. I could never say that it’s alright to change yourself for another person’s sake. That just wouldn’t be fair.”

Tom shrugged. “I want to be better Susanna. Whether you are by my side or not. Of course, it would be a lot nicer if you were, but I’ll take what I can get.”

Susanna glanced nervously over at the Slytherin table. “Aren’t you worried about what all of your friends think?”

Tom shook his head without even looking back at them. “They want me to be the person that I used to be. But I promise that I’m not that guy anymore. It’s all thanks to you.”

Susanna smiled. “Don’t be ridiculous. Only you can change yourself so much. And just for the record? I really don’t mind.” She pulled him into a hug, and for a moment, it was easy to pretend like there was no one else in the room. Like it wasn’t wrong for them to be interacting like this. And hopefully, someday it wouldn’t be wrong anymore.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get too comfortable guys, because this is all the calm before the storm

Tom felt his hands literally shaking as he walked down the hallway. This was utterly ridiculous. He was one of the strongest wizards of this time, yet he was shaking in his boots at the thought of seeing Susanna. She was just one small person, and a muggle born no less, so how had she managed to become so important?

In the back of his mind, there was a little voice whispering that Tom’s crew wasn’t going to be happy to know that he’d skipped their normal meetings for a meeting with Susanna of all people. None of his so called friends were really fans of the girl, despite the fact that she was actually a pretty decent person.

Tom almost collided into Susanna, since he was so lost in his head as he was walking. She giggled. “We really have to stop meeting like this.”

He grinned. “Yeah, you’re probably right. If you keep knocking me over like that, I won’t be able to do this.” He pulled her into a hug that lasted a few seconds longer than appropriate before he pulled away. 

Susanna grabbed Tom’s hand, and began to walk back down the corridor in the direction she had come from. He followed, wondering where she was leading them. First they stopped by the kitchen, where Susanna motioned for Tom to wait where he was. 

But Tom got curious, so he followed the Ravenclaw around the corner, and watched as she skipped over to a large painting of fruit. She reached up, and had to stretch on the tips of her toes, where she gently scratched her fingers against the pear in the painting. A moment later, it became apparent that she was tickling it. He could tell because he started squirming around while trying to hold in laughter.

The painting swung open, and Tom quickly followed Susanna into the kitchen. It was a pleasant feeling to know that even if he got caught, she wouldn’t be angry with him, and would probably just laugh at him for being too impatient or something.

One of the house elves handed Susanna a big picnic basket. There was so much inside that the top wouldn’t even close properly. Susanna turned around, and when she spotted Tom standing in the doorway, she gave him a mock frown. She turned back to the elf. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Drixi. I almost forgot this.” She reached into the pocket of her robe, and a moment later, pulled her arm back out, now with a necklace wrapped around her fingertips. She handed the jewelry to the elf. 

Tom could recognize that it was just a necklace made from cheap metal, but the small imperfections hinted that Susanna had made it herself. The elf bowed graciously. “Thank you, Mistress Susanna. You really are too kind.”

Susanna knelt down for a moment so she could press a kiss to the house elf’s head, then stood back up. She walked over and linked one of her arms through one of Tom’s, the other hand swinging their basket gently. They left the kitchen, closing the fruit portrait behind them.

As they walked leisurely through the halls, Tom peered down at Susanna. “How did you know about that portrait leading to the kitchen?”  
Susanna grinned. “I’m in Ravenclaw, remember? That means I’m supposed to be smart.”

Tom chuckled to himself. So she did show the traits of Ravenclaw after all. She looked up at him with one eyebrow raised, and he just shrugged. “It’s nothing. It’s just that a little while back, closer to when I first met you, I couldn’t help thinking that you seemed to belong into any of the houses but Ravenclaw.”

Susanna pretended to look offended. “What are you trying to say? Are you trying to say that I’m not smart?”

Tom laughed louder at that. “The girl who thought that it would be a good idea to go out flying just because she was told she couldn’t asks if she’s smart.”

Susanna laughed. “Well, well, well. It looks like the other shoe has dropped. It’s really quite a shame. I never would have imagined that you would be the type of person to call other people stupid to their faces. That’s the kind of stuff that you should hold off on in any situation that isn’t behind their backs.”

A few minutes later, they left through a small door, and stepped outside into the bright sunny outdoors. Susanna looked around with satisfaction. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice out. Aren’t you glad now that you let me pick where we hang out for the day?”

Tom rolled his eyes. “As long as I don’t get burnt too badly, or pass out from being overheated, I shall defer this victory to you.”

Susanna pulled out her wand, and whispered under her breath. A moment later, Tom felt like he was suddenly wearing an extra couple of layers of clothing. He peeled back one of sleeves, and saw that there was sunscreen already sinking into his skin. He smiled. “How could I forget? You’re supposed to be smart, right?”

Susanna laughed. She put down the picnic blanket that she had shoved into Tom’s hands, forcing him to carry it, and the red and white checkered squares stuck out in stark contrast to the bright green grass. Susanna plopped the basket down onto the middle of the blanket, and pulled off the top that was already having trouble staying on. 

She pulled out a plate with a couple of sandwiches on it. She pulled off the wrapping, and put it in between Tom and herself. She motioned for him to take one. “I would have made these myself, but if we’re being honest here, I’m crap at cooking. And no amount of cooking classes will change that.” 

Tom laughed. “They should have known better than to take a class that would be mandatory to you.”

Susanna shrugged. “Honestly. They should make some boys take cooking. How else will my future husband be able to spell up some delicious meals for me whenever I ask him to?”

Tom grabbed one of the sandwiches, and took a big bite. He started coughing immediately. “Are you sure you weren’t involved in the making of this sandwich?”

Susanna raised one eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I just gave the elves a list of things that go well on sandwiches. Pickles, ham, turkey, mustard, cranberry sauce, peanut butter, jelly, chicken, and frosting.”

Tom’s eyes practically bugged out of his mouth. He swallowed loudly, then visibly winced at the taste that was still lingering in his mouth. “Oh god, this is disgusting. Why would the house elves take your word for what should be put into a sandwich when they’ve been the ones making sandwiches for longer than either of us have even been alive?” Susanna began laughing and snorting at the same time. Tom frowned. “Is that noise supposed to be endearing?”

Susanna shook her head, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes from laughing too hard. “No, no, it’s not.” She pulled another plate out of the basket, and handed one of the sandwiches from that one up to Tom. He shook his head, and Susanna laughed harder. “No, I just asked them to put on a whole bunch of random stuff, but these ones are the real sandwiches.” 

Tom looked at Susanna warily. “And what exactly was the point to having fake sandwiches made?”

Susanna grinned. “You acted like a prat before, and you deserved a little bit of punishment in order to learn your lesson. But I think that you’ve made up for all of your past transgressions at this point, since I did just get you pretty good. Er, pretty well? Whatever’s the right way to say it, I guess. The point is, you got your comeuppance.”

Tom cautiously took the proffered sandwich and held it up to his nose so he could thoroughly sniff it. Then he pulled off the top slice of bread, and saw that there was just a normal sandwich in his hand. He replaced the bread, then raised it to his lips to eat it.

Susanna sighed, and pulled out the other normal sandwich. What a fun day. She was so glad that Tom had decided to come clean with her about everything. Susanna didn’t even know what she’d done to deserve his full trust, but she knew that at this point, she had to have it. How else would he have chosen to tell her so much about himself, with things that she could easily destroy him with if she were to tell any other people.

Once they finished their sandwiches, Susanna leaned back until she was lying down on the blanket, and she patted the empty space next to her so Tom would do the same. He rolled his eyes, but did lie down. Susanna pointed up at a big fluffy cloud. “That one looks like a hippogriff.”

Tom pointed to one that was vaguely person shaped. “That one looks like Dippet.”

Susanna smacked Tom in the arm in place of reprimanding him, but then she chuckled as she settled back into a comfortable position. “I’m sure the headmaster would prefer to not be hearing such traitorous words from you, right?”

Tom shrugged. “I’m a prefect, and he loves me as much as everyone else does. I mean, I must be pretty good, because even you fell for it all.”

Susanna furrowed her eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

Tom grinned. “Well, you wouldn’t be hanging out with me right now if it weren’t for my charm and good looks, would you?”

Susanna laughed. “Yes, because you’re sooo charming. Then again, you were my knight in shining armor when you saved my life.” Susanna glanced at Tom, then looked back up at the sky. “You know the stories of the founders, right?” Tom nodded. “Well then you know how much Ravenclaw and Slytherin disliked each other. So isn’t funny that we manage to get along so well anyways?”

Tom nodded, and he slowly reached his hand over. Susanna grabbed it, and pulled herself just a bit closer to Tom. He sat up a little bit, resting on his elbows. He started to lean over, when there was suddenly a group of loudly laughing students walking past.

He turned away, and cleared his throat a few times. “Well, this was fun, but it’s probably time for us to head back in now. I’m sure that you’ve already gotten it all done, but I still have homework to do.”

Susanna laughed. “There’s a reason you’re a prefect and not me. Trust me, if there’s ever a time that I don’t put off an assignment until the very last minute, then I’ve probably just learned that the world is ending and hell is freezing over.”

Tom laughed as he helped fold up the blanket. “Do you want me to bring this back to the kitchen?”

Susanna shook her head. “No, that’s alright. I’ve got it.” Tom nodded, and bent down to grab the basket so he could hand it to her. As soon as he stood back up, Susanna surged forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheeks. Then she grabbed the basket and blanket, and literally ran back towards the school.

Tom stood there for a moment, dazed. Then he shook his head, and just stared as Susanna left. Once she was out of sight, he couldn’t help the big dopey grin that covered his face.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this ended up being my most popular out of all the fics I've got up on here right now lol.

Tom whistled cheerfully as he strolled into the dorm rooms, and he was so focused on thinking about how well it had gone hanging out with Susanna earlier that he almost didn’t notice the group of grumpy Slytherins sitting around the common room, their arms crossed over their chests.

He paused to looked at them questioningly. Sirius stood up, looking annoyed and concerned at the same times. Sirius let out a long sigh. “Tom, we need to have a talk.”

Tom slowly looked at all of the concerned faces of his so-called friends. “What about?”

Sirius sighed. “Tom, we’re holding an intervention for you.” Before Tom could say anything, like how confused he was, Sirius continued talking, ignoring his best friend’s wish to interject. “We feel like you’re growing very disconnected from our goals, because you have a problem in the form of a little Ravenclaw.”

Avery scoffed, sounding disgusted with the idea of Susanna. “That girl clearly isn’t smart enough to be in Ravenclaw if she’s stupid enough to think that she can get away with stealing you.” He stood up. “She’s clearly cast some kind of spell on you, or slipped a love potion into your food, because you’re certainly not acting like yourself recently.”

Tom’s cheeks got a tinge of pink to them at that. “I wouldn’t say a love potion, necessarily. I mean, maybe a friendship potion-”

Sirius looked pissed off. “Cut the bullshit, Tom. It’s insulting enough that you’re choosing to spend all of your time with that filthy mudblood-”

Tom cut his friend off, not caring if it sounded rude. “Don’t you dare call her that.” He hesitated, but only for a moment, before continuing. He knew that he had to defend Susanna, even if she wasn’t there to hear it. “She’s as pure a wizard as anyone else who can do magic. There’s nothing in her blood that makes her filthy.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes. “She’s ruined you entirely, Tom. We need to do something to fix you. And luckily for you, Avery here has come up with the perfect solution to your little… situation.” He looked sickened at the thought of the friendly witch hanging out with Tom for any amount of time.

Tom crossed his arms over his chest. “What the bloody hell are you talking about? Susanna isn’t a problem, or a bad situation.”

Sirius shook his head. “Let’s just agree to disagree.” He paused, and looked vaguely uncertain for the first time since he started talking. He let out a deep breath, revealing his mixed feelings on the thought of what comes next. Finally, he pulled out his wand. “I’m sorry Tom, but we have to save you.” He whipped his wand in Tom’s direction. “Petrificus totalus!” Tom didn’t have time to react before the spell bound his body, and he was incapable of moving. And knowing Sirius’s skill at spell-casting, Tom knew that he probably wouldn’t be free for at least a few hours, which would be enough time for the boys to do what they planned on doing to Susanna. And since Tom still couldn’t push the picture of her new scar out of his mind, he was freaking out about what they were going to do. Freaking out internally, of course, since he had no way of moving.

One of the boys behind him caught Tom before he could fall onto the ground, though he couldn’t see who it was, and he didn’t really care. He had to find some way to get out of this disaster. He didn’t know exactly what the boys had in mind for Susanna, but he knew with absolutely certainty that it was not going to be good.

Tom was carefully carried into the boys’ dorm, and he was tucked into his bed. He heard Avery’s voice, though it sounded like he was trying to listen to someone who was standing really far away. “We really are sorry to have to do this, Tom, but you’ve left us with no other choice. You want to send the basilisk away, even though he’s here to do your bidding. But don’t worry, we will save you. You will not have to be under that mudblood’s spell for any longer.”

Tom wanted to scream and tackle the owner of that smug sounding voice to the ground. They were going to hurt Susanna. No, not hurt her. If they had somehow found a way to control the basilisk, which wouldn’t have taken too long between Avery and Sirius’s clever thinking, then they weren’t planning on just hurting Susanna, and scarring her again. They were planning on murdering her.

Then everything went black as a sleeping spell was whispered over him, forcing him to take a nap. All he could feel was terror in the pit of his stomach, as he had no idea what he would wake up to, but he knew that it was going to be bad. Really, really bad. And Tom felt sick at the thought of Susanna being dead. Maybe love wasn’t too strong of a word. 

But the sudden revelation of his feelings meant nothing, since he was in no position to do anything. He wanted to groan out loud, but he couldn’t even manage that in his current state. Then everything slipped away, and Tom couldn’t even softly snore as he fell asleep because he still couldn’t move, due to the spell. Tom cursed everything as he slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

Tom blinked slowly as he returned to a state of awakeness, and he groaned at the slight headache that he was now sporting. He sat up, and pushed aside his blanket, blinking rapidly as he tried to fully regain his thoughts.

His eyes suddenly widened as he remembered the exact circumstance that led to him lying in bed at this hour. He bolted to his feet, and dashed for the door. He completely ignored the fact that he was not wearing any shoes, because he didn’t care. He had this horrible feeling in his chest, but he just couldn’t help hoping beyond hope that he wasn’t too late, and that Susanna was still going to be alive. 

As he rushed out of the common room and into the hallway, Tom saw that there were students lining the corridor, all looking towards the figures making their way through. They were pushing a stretcher between them, with a blanket covering the body. As they went, an arm dropped down, and Tom recognized the sleeve as a Ravenclaw robe.

He gasped, and pressed his hand over his mouth in horror. She was dead. She was really dead. His expression quickly morphed into confusion, though. It was a very familiar voice, sounding shaky, calling after the professors. “You have to find the one who did this.” Then she realized that she had a large audience, and she turned to her fellow students. She looked around until she spotted Avery, who was watching the whole procession with a very smug look. She stormed over to him, and slapped him across the face, the sound of skin stinging skin echoing through the mostly silent hall. Her voice filled with fury. “You did this.”

Avery raised one eyebrow, and glanced at the professor who was hurrying over to Susanna, probably to restrain her. Accusing another student of murder was no light thing. Avery leaned forward though, and spoke in a soft whisper, one that Tom had to strain to hear, and he knew that the other students around the two could hear perfectly, even if the teacher wasn’t yet close enough to. “No, you stupid idiot. You did this. If you’d just been smart, and stayed away from someone who’s infinitely out of your league, then this wouldn’t have happened.” He shrugged. “Then again, maybe it would have happened no matter what, as the beast was attracted to the scent of mud running through her veins. I’d be careful if I were you. There could be a mudblood killer on the loose.”

Susanna began screeching inhumanly, and she seemed to forget about using magic as a weapon when she began kicking and scratching and hitting Avery on any part of his body that she could reach. The professor hurried faster, and grabbed Susanna, and Tom saw that it was Professor Fredwin, looking thoroughly irritated. Understandably so, since it had to be hard on all of the teachers to deal with a situation like this…

Tom’s thoughts trailed off. If it wasn’t Susanna being carted away with a white sheet over her, then who was it? Fredwin looked like he was exerting considerable effort to drag Susanna away, despite her smaller stature. She was struggling and kicking out, and screaming profanities out at Avery that made most of the other students blush and look away. Tom had never heard any girl using such vulgar language, let alone Susanna.

“You’re a murderer! You killed her! You-” Suddenly, Susanna went limp in Fredwin’s arms, as he had managed to extract his wand from his robes and cast a simple sleeping spell. Then he readjusted, and easily carried the girl away.

Other professors were trying to usher the students out of the hallway, not wanting them to witness what was happening. Tom slipped through the crowd and tried to get past the blockade of teachers, and when one of them frowned at him, he flashed his prefect badge, and was grudgingly allowed to pass.

Tom hurried to the infirmary, thinking that that would be the first place to look for Susanna. The professors would probably want to give her a chance to calm down a bit in peace once she wakes up. He stopped just outside when he heard voices coming from within. Eavesdropping was often the quickest way to learn what the bloody hell was going on.

A vaguely familiar boy was speaking, sounding entirely pissed off. “-just do that. What gives you the right to restrain her? She’s done nothing wrong!”

Fredwin’s voice responded, sounding bored. “She attacked another student.”

“That’s really considered an attack after what’s already happened to her? And she just lost her best friend, do you really expect her to be complacent? She’s convinced that it was that Slytherin kid who did it.”

The professor’s voice sounded a bit sharper at that. “That is a very large accusation, one that was delivered with absolutely no proof. And mind the tone you take with me, boy.”

Tom felt that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Susanna was safe, at least for the moment, but Myrtle was the one who was dead. A million different possible scenarios ran through Tom’s head as he tried to figure out what exactly had happened. Maybe Susanna was being attacked, and Myrtle had heroically jumped in the way? Based on how strongly determined Myrtle had been to protect her friend earlier, that wasn’t entirely unlikely

Tom decided that it was time to make his entrance, and he walked into the infirmary. Fredwin and Henry -no wonder the voice sounded familiar, it was Susanna’s brother- were standing opposite each other, both with their arms crossed over their chests, looking pissed.

Henry turned when he heard the sound of soft footsteps on stone, and his eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement as he spotted Tom, and then spotted Tom’s lack of shoes at the moment. “What are you doing here?”

Tom sighed. “Susanna’s my friend. I wanted to make sure that she’s okay.”

Henry seemed surprised by that answer, but he didn’t let on what he had been expecting Tom to say. Instead, he let out a deep breath. “She could use a friend once she wakes up. You’ve probably heard what happened by now, since the whole school seems to have.” Then he turned back to Fredwin. “But you still haven’t told me what you’re going to do to protect her.”

Fredwin responded in a calm, gentle voice. “Now there’s really no evidence that Susanna needs protection. There’s been no indication of what killed the other girl yet, and besides that, your sister was the one who openly attacked another student. If anything, she needs to be punished, and Mr Avery needs to receive protection.”

Tom balled his hands into fists at the unfairness of the situation, but before he could say anything, Henry kept talking. “That’s bullshit, and you know it! Myrtle was attacked because she’s muggle-born, just like Susanna was attacked not too long ago!”

The professor sighed, sounding regretful. “I’m afraid that there’s simply nothing to back that claim. If there was some outside force involved in the death of a student, the matter will be investigated thoroughly.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. “Though I do recall several reports, made both by your sister and the deceased, against a bully, one who was ‘driving Myrtle mad’. Perhaps mad enough to take her own life?”

Henry’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. But he wasn’t a complete idiot. He knew when he was fighting a losing battle, and he spoke through clenched teeth. “Please leave now. I think my sister will be able to rest better if she has some peace.”

Fredwin nodded easily enough. “Of course. I shall return later to check on the girl. Until then, enjoy your time together.”

Even Tom had to shiver at the ominous sound to those words, and he’d seen a lot of messed up stuff in his life.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of update last week. There was a bad nor'easter in my area, and we had no power Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. 
> 
> So yeah, I confess, I simply threw in that cute chapter because I knew it would be one of the last opportunities to do so for quite a while. And yes, Tom’s friends are scary and strongly dislike Susanna, though they don’t seem entirely dissatisfied with their first attempts at using the Basilisk, so who really knows what’s going to happen next? (Well I know, but that’s because I’m me)

Tom looked at Henry curiously as he made himself comfortable in the other visitor’s chair. They both had to wait for Susanna to wake up, so he might as well try and figure out as much about what happened as possible. He was almost completely certain that it had been the basilisk, though he didn’t know which exact boy had given the order to kill. “So do you know what exactly happened?”

Henry sighed, looking worn out. “It was Olive Hornby who found Myrtle,” he looked sick at the thought. “Apparently Olive had been bullying Myrtle again, not like that’s an unusual occurrence. But there’s no way that Myrtle killed herself,” claimed Henry, suddenly sounding fierce. “She knew that she had plenty of friends, and besides, Susanna knew Myrtle better than anyone else, and she knows that her best friend wasn’t suicidal. I wish I could talk to Olive. No one’s seen her since Dippet took her away. She’s probably going to be traumatized for life.”

Tom tilted his head. “You don’t sound very happy about that.”

Henry scoffed. “Of course I’m not happy. How could I be happy knowing that my sister just lost her best friend? She’s never going to be the same, you know. So I don’t care what happens to Olive. All I care about is finding the person who killed Myrtle, and stopping them before anyone else can get hurt.”

It made sense for Henry to sound so passionate on the matter. He was muggle-born, his little sister was muggle-born, and they probably both had muggle-born friends. If there was someone going around killing the muggle-borns, then all of them were in danger. That thought made something in Tom’s stomach clench tightly. He was shocked to realize that though he didn’t particularly care about most of them, he didn’t want to see them just die.

There was a soft groan, and both boys jumped up and leaned a bit over Susanna. She blinked a few times in sleepy confusion before everything that had happened replayed in her mind. She sat up, and the haunted look in her eyes was something that Tom didn’t think he’d ever be able to forget. 

She shoved back the blanket that was tucked gently around her, and sat up, forcing both boys to pull back if they didn’t want to collide foreheads with the upset girl. Susanna looked at Henry pleadingly. Tom wasn’t sure if she’d seen him yet or not, but he didn’t say anything. He was just relieved that she was alive and okay, so it was alright even if he wasn’t the one she needed right then. 

Susanna’s eyes were watering up. “Please, please tell me that it was all just a bad dream. Please!”

Henry looked down, unable to meet the begging gaze. He spoke in a soft voice. “I’m sorry, Susanna. I’m so, so sorry.”

Susanna curled forward, and her shoulders shook from the force her loud sobs. Henry sat down next to her on the bed, and pulled her into a tight hug. She didn’t respond at first, but then she returned the gesture, and buried her face into her brother’s shoulder. He didn’t seem to care about the snot and tears that were getting on his robes. 

Tom took a few steps towards the door to the infirmary. “I’ll just go now.”

Susanna slowly peeked up, looking surprised to see the Slytherin. “Tom?” She took a deep breath, and tried to speak without her voice wavering, and she was almost successful in that endeavor. “Tom, please, I need to know. Do you know what happened to Myrtle.”

Tom shook his head without hesitation. “No. I just woke up, and found everyone lining the hallways. I had no idea what had happened.”

Susanna looked relieved to hear that he had no knowledge of the act. Tom knew that if he confirmed her theory that some of the Slytherins had killed her friend, then Susanna would go after them, and she would end up getting herself killed in the process. Tom couldn’t let that happen. Since there was nothing Susanna could do either way, he didn’t see how it could possibly hurt to hide one little thing from her. And besides, it’s not like he knew with absolute certainty that it had been his friends. He couldn’t meet her gaze, though. Susanna didn’t seem to think much of it either way, probably because even Henry hadn’t been able to make eye contact with her. 

Tom stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, unsure of whether he was expected to stay or to go. This wasn’t a normal situation, and there were no normal protocols that went along with it. 

Susanna leaned back, away from her brother, and let out a long sigh. The kind that people would normally make fun of for being too dramatic, but in this case, it was the right amount of drama for the situation, considering her best friend had just died, and no one even knew why.

Susanna heaved another sigh, and then shook her head. “I thought that everything was too perfect.” Tom gave her a questioning look, so she elaborated. “I mean everything here at Hogwarts. I was just an ordinary kid and then I found out that I have magic, and I was sent to this weird school full of all kinds of people just like me, and I ended up finding a best friend who was just enough like me that I didn’t feel alone anymore, and I thought that everything was going to be so good, and I had no idea that it was all going to go to hell, and this place sucks and I hate it. I hate it so much.” She pressed her hands against her eyes, and pulled her knees up to her chest.

Henry looked up at Tom like he was silently pleading for help. He knew that his sister clearly wasn’t okay, but there was just nothing that he could do about it, and even though he really hated to admit it, he did need the help of the boy he didn’t much like. Tom, for whatever reason, seemed to have a soothing effect on Susanna. Though for the life of him, Henry couldn’t figure out what exactly his sister saw in that jerk. 

Tom sat down on the other side of Susanna, and between the two boys, Susanna felt like she had a warm, comforting blanket, in a way. She tried to look as grateful as possible, but with the misery still clinging to her features, the look didn’t end up quite like she wanted. Instead, she only succeeded looking pained and haunted by what had happened. 

Susanna clasped her hands together and looked up, trying to see if the nurse was still in the room, or if she’d absconded back to her office. It would seem as though she had left, because currently only the three teens were occupying the room. Most likely, she had gone to oversee the proceedings with the body, since she was the only certified medical professional in the school. 

Susanna sighed again. “Can I go? I just want to go back to my dorm room and curl up in a ball under my blanket.”

Henry hesitated. “I’d really feel better about all of this if you waited for the nurse to get back and clear you herself. You’ve been through a lot, Susanna.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Okay, I’ll stick around for a bit. Just- don’t leave me?” 

Henry nodded. “Of course. I promise I won’t go anywhere until you’re released.”

Susanna turned to Tom, a hopeful look in her eyes. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but can you stay too?”

Tom knew that Susanna needed comfort at the moment. She’d just lost her best friend, and was probably afraid that she was going to lose more people as well. If Tom sticking around could help to assuage her fears, then it was worth the crick in the neck that he was going to get from staying in this awkward position for too long. “Of course I’ll stay. You didn’t just think that I was in it for the sunny picnics, did you?”

Susanna tilted her head. “So then what are you in it for?”

Tom wondered if this was really the best time to be discussing their relationship, in front of Henry no less, but then decided that it didn’t really matter what they talked about, as long as it kept Susanna’s mind off of all of the horrible things that were going on at Hogwarts. “I’m all in. The sunny picnics, the gloomy infirmary visits, the crazy female mood swings, the beautiful laugh, the incredible smile, the teary eyes, all of it. I’m in it for everything.”

Susanna sniffled, then gave a small smile. “What did I ever do to deserve a man like you?”

Tom felt a pang of guilt in his chest at that. The reason that Myrtle had been murdered was because Tom had selfishly wanted to keep devoting his time and energy to Susanna, even though his friends had warned him against doing that. And even now, after seeing the devastation that his greed had caused, Tom only wanted to spend more time with Susanna. He knew that Sirius and the others weren’t likely to give up until they got what they wanted, though, which meant that there could be more deaths, and all of that blood would be on Tom’s hands. 

He smiled anyways, though, wanting to provide Susanna with whatever comfort he could. “I think you were yourself, and that’s how I got to learn that you’re one of the most wonderful people in the whole world.”

There was a soft sigh from the other side of Susanna, reminding Tom that Henry was still there, and he couldn’t escape from the lovey environment because he’d already promised his sister that he’d stay by her side. He just probably hadn’t been expecting this kind of conversation to occur.

Susanna let out a soft giggle at that. “Sorry, Henry. I know you don’t want to hear all of this.”

Henry pulled Susanna into a tight hug. “Of course I don’t want to hear all of this crap.” He sighed. “But if this is the guy that makes you happy, then I don’t see it as my place to try and stop that. You deserve to be with someone who makes you happy, Susanna.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. “Though I would love to hear more about this ‘sunny picnic’ that Tom mentioned.”

Susanna laughed again. “I’m sure you’d be dying of boredom.” Then her expression immediately sobered, as Myrtle’s death was brought back to the forefront of her mind.  
Tom understood that expression on her face now, even if he hadn’t a few months ago. It was the look that Susanna had entertained when she’d declared that she’d take down whoever had scarred her. It was a look that demanded justice for the people who had wronged her. 

It was a dangerous look, because it meant that she might decide to go and do something stupid out of grief for her lost friend. She could end up seriously hurt, or worse, dead. Tom didn’t think he’d ever be able to live with himself if anything happened to Susanna, and he couldn’t help thinking almost wistfully of the person he’d once been; the person who wouldn’t have cared. At least when he didn’t care, he didn’t have to worry about getting hurt. 

Luckily, Henry seemed to have noticed the look as well, and he saved Tom from having to play the bad guy in this scenario. “Susanna, you can’t go after the one who did this. You might think you know who it is, but you have no proof. If you confront him by yourself, you could be the next one carted away in a black bag. And you can’t go to the headmaster with nothing more than a bad feeling. He’d laugh you right out of his office.” 

Susanna frowned, and pulled away from her brother. “He needs to be punished for what he’s done. If I don’t do anything, then Myrtle’s murderer is going to walk away free, and he’ll be able to kill more students if he wants to. I can’t let that happen!”

Henry brushed away the stray hair that had fallen across Susanna’s eyes. “I wish that you could join the quidditch team. And I wish that you could get justice for your friend, or better yet, not lose her at all. I wish you could just be happy and get the things that you’ve almost always wanted. You deserve to be happy. You really do, I promise. And even though it might not seem like it right now, I can assure you that someday, it won’t hurt quite so much.”

Susanna shook her head stubbornly, though her tears were visible as they slipped down her face. “I just… I just can’t sit around and-”

“That’s exactly what you’ll be doing young lady,” interrupted a familiar voice. Professor Fredwin stood in the doorway to the infirmary. He flicked his wand, and Susanna’s hand was instantly cuffed to the side of the bed. She fruitlessly tugged on the metal. “You’ve simply gone too far. This isn’t just a matter of being expelled. This is a matter of you going away to prison for the rest of your life.” He yanked Tom and Henry away. “Don’t get too close to her, boys, she’s dangerous.” Speaking over each other, the two boys demanded to know what was going on. Fredwin sighed. “She’s under the arrest for the murder of one Myrtle Warren. She will be picked up by members of the Ministry of Magic, where she will stand trial and most certainly be thrown into Azkaban.”

Susanna’s eyes bugged out of her head. “What the bloody hell are you talking about!?”

Fredwin rolled his eyes. “You killed your own friend. There’s no way that you're going to get to see the sun ever again once you’re taken away.”

Henry pulled away from Fredwin’s grip. “But what about Avery? He did it, not Susanna!”

Fredwin smiled maniacally, a foreign gleam in his eyes. “I doubt that the Ministry would take the word of a poor little mudblood over the word of a highly respected wizarding family. Now you two run along.”

It wasn’t until they were out in the hallway that they realized what the professor had just called Susanna. A mudblood. They both looked at each other with matching looks of panic on their faces.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henry can get pretty fierce when it comes to protecting the people he cares about. Which is why it works out in everyone’s favor once Tom and Henry realize how much they actually have in common, and they’ll manage to eventually befriend each other  
>  Fredwin’s not exactly meant to be likable haha. I'd be more worried if people did like him

Henry gulped, and grabbed Tom’s arm, pulling him into one of the many little alcoves that lined the hallway. He looked at the prefect with fear in his eyes, though he wasn’t afraid of Tom, he was afraid for Susanna. “Did he say what I think he said?”

Tom sighed heavily, then nodded. “Unless we’ve both suddenly developed hearing issues, then yes, he did.” Tom began pacing back and forth in the little alcove. “But what the hell are we supposed to do? We’re just kids to the Ministry, they aren’t going to care about what we have to say.”

Henry crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you think Dippet knows about this? Do you think he authorized a student to be arrested for murder on zero evidence? I knew the guy was a dunce, but this is just going to far.”

Tom glanced at the other boy with surprise. “You think that our headmaster’s a dunce? I thought that everyone practically worshipped him, or something. I can’t believe there’s someone else who-”

Suddenly Henry put his finger over his mouth, signalling for Tom to be silent, so Tom shut up. The two boys pressed their backs against the walls as they heard cheerful whistling, accompanied by heavy footsteps. Tom peered around the corner, and watched the very tall student with long shaggy hair walk down the corridor.

Once he had passed through, Tom looked back at Henry, an unfamiliar gleam in his eyes. “I think I know what we need to do to get Susanna out of this. There’s absolutely no way that we’ll ever be able to get Avery arrested, his family’s too rich and influential. Any damage we try to do to him would be negated. But maybe we can take a page from his book.”

Henry frowned. “I really hope that you’re not suggesting we murder someone.”

Tom shook his head. “What? No, of course not. All we have to do is find someone else to blame. Avery tried to pin this on Susanna, but we can pin it on someone else. Someone who’ll get in less trouble. Someone like that oa- that half giant who just walked by.”

“Why would he get in any less trouble?”

Tom shrugged. “Because of the fact he isn’t fully humans. There’s all kinds of laws about it. And he also has a little ‘pet’ that would be the perfect scapegoat.”

Susanna’s brother looked almost tempted, but then he shook his head. “No. No way are we going to accuse a student of _murder_ when we know that he’d perfectly innocent. And how would you know if he has a murderous pet, anyways?”

Tom shrugged again. “Just think of it as my business to know things like that. Well, think of it as my business to know about pretty much everything that goes on around this school.” He stepped out of the alcove, and turned back to Henry, a serious look on his face. “I know that you don’t think this is a good idea, but what other choice is there? You have to know that the odds of Susanna not being convicted are very slim. They may say that it has no bearing on the trial, but there’s no way that they won’t look into her blood status. And the second they see that she isn’t as… ‘valuable’ as certain other wizards, they’ll declare her guilty.”

Henry gulped. “They wouldn’t really send her to Azkaban, would they? She’s just a kid. She’s a good person, and she would never do anything to harm her best friend in the whole world.”

Tom beginning to walk quickly down the hallway, and he motioned for Henry to follow him. “Well, first thing’s first, we need to go see Dippet, and figure out if he’s aware of this situation or not. Because if he’s not, then we need to make him aware, and if he is, then we know that we’ll have one less ally on our side.” 

As they walked, Henry cleared his throat. “You know, when I first met you, I thought that you were just a pompous little git, a purist who didn’t care about my sister at all. But now you’re willing to go through so much trouble to save her, so I just wanted to… that is I didn’t…”

“You’re welcome,” Tom flashed his normal charming grin, though his tired eyes took away from the illusion a little bit. “And just so you know, my birthfatherwasamuggle.” Tom muttered the last part quickly enough to make it one long string of words. “And I’m an orphan,” he added in a casual tone.

Henry didn’t know how to respond to that. But he had the feeling that Tom didn’t really expect him to say anything here, anyways. He tried to walk faster, so that he would get the opportunity to glance at Tom’s face, but Tom didn’t seem very on board with that idea, because his pace magically picked up at the exact same time.

The boys stopped outside of the headmaster’s office a few minutes later, and Henry raised one eyebrow. “Well, this was your bloody idea. So how the hell do we get in?”

Tom scoffed. “Come on, you’re saying that like you think I wouldn’t know the password. I’m pretty sure that i’m Dippet’s absolute favorite prefect.” He turned to face what was a seemingly blank wall space, and smiled. “‘Quarter-catch wrinkles’,” The wall slid away, revealing a spiralling staircase. “See? No problem.” He stepped forward onto the first step, which rose up without him having to walk up each step. 

Before Henry could get on the next step, the door swung shut again. Tom cursed under his breath, and ran up to the headmaster’s office, barging in like he had any right to do so. He ignored the paintings of previous headmasters that lined the walls, and headed straight over to the large desk at the other end of the room.

Dippet appeared to be bent over his desk, head resting in his arms, the way students would pose if they decided to take a little nap in the middle of class, and had nothing comfier than their arms to pillow their heads with. Tom stepped forward, and tapped Dippet on the shoulder impatiently.

There was no response, and Tom immediately tensed up. He grabbed the back of the chair and spun it around, taking a few steps back when Dippet’s limp head fell back without the support of the desk. Tom bit his lip, and gulped. He took a cautious step forward, and pressed two fingers against the man’s neck to check for a pulse, but the skin was cold and smooth like marble, and there was no motion beneath it.

Tom whipped out his wand, ready to use it at a moment’s notice if the killer had decided to stick around. Then he looked back at the body, almost remorsefully. Dippet may have been a complete idiot who was too busy having his head stuck up his arse to notice anything that went on around the school, but he wasn’t a mean idiot, and he didn’t deserve to die.

Tom knew that he needed to get out of the office as soon as possible. If anyone showed up, then they would be forced to assume that Tom had murdered the man. And while that could potentially free Susanna, Tom knew that there had to be a better way than simply taking the fall for her. Especially when it would be only too easy to get someone else to take the fall her, whether they wanted to or not. 

The prefect rolled his eyes as he felt himself impulsively heading back to the man who’d thought so highly of him. He carefully slid the man’s eyelids down, so it looked more like he was taking a quick nap. Then Tom paused to wonder who could have done this. Avery was the most likely suspect, as he’d already killed one student, except Dippet wasn’t petrified the way that the basilisk’s victims were supposed to be. And there was no injury anywhere that signified a cause of death. That meant that most likely, someone had used the killing curse, but Tom wasn’t sure who would have it in them to actually do it, and be stupid enough to risk killing the headmaster of Hogwarts with it.

Just as Tom was ready to duck out of the office, he heard the stone wall downstairs shift, and a couple of sets of footsteps were approaching. Shite, there was no way other ways out of the office, which meant that Tom was trapped, and he was going to be caught and sent to jail and have his soul sucked out and-

There was a little spot behind the giant pot that Tom recognized as a pensive. He dashed behind it, and saw that the reason he’d seen the spot was because of the way the floor grate revealed an empty space beneath it. Tom didn’t bother trying to pull it away with his bare hands. Instead, he did a quick spell to loosen it up, then slide down the hole that was left. He reached up to pull the grate back into place, and hoped that the person coming into the office wouldn’t notice the odd color schemes of the floor.

The door to the office swung open, and Tom strained his eyes to see who had come in. There was a gasp of surprise, and another of horror, seeming to come from two different people. There were a few tentative steps forward, and Tom could just barely see the edge of dark blue robes. The voice that spoke first sounded very grim. “Get the other professors.”

The other person gulped a few times, sounding like they were about to be sick. “Which ones?”

“All of them.” The lighter steps hurried away, and Tom peered through the grate cautiously, trying to figure out who was up there. But he wasn’t at the right angle to see much of anything, and all of the professors sounded familiar enough at this point that he couldn’t pick out any of them by voice alone. 

There was a soft sigh, and the teacher who was still standing there sounded sad. “I warned you that there was trouble afoot, but you didn’t want to listen to me. And now here you are, dead. But who in their right mind would have killed the headmaster in his own office? There’s got to be some kind of evidence left behind. We’ll find out who did this, Armando. And if it was the same person who killed one of our students, then they will get what they deserve.”

Tom frowned, and tried to crane his neck. The position was too uncomfortable, and he let out a soft sigh. It shouldn’t have been enough to alert anyone to his presence, but the professor turned, and his footsteps got louder as he walked over to the grate. Tom held his breath, sure that he was about to get caught and arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.

But rather than reaching down and pulling up the grate, the professor stayed still where he was, and spoke with a curious tone. “A pensive…? Maybe the answer to who killed you is in here.” 

There was the sound of several sets of footsteps pounding up the stairs, too impatient to wait for the stairs to move on their own. The office door burst open, and Tom took a careful step back, trying to press himself back against the wall, which was cold and damp.

A woman’s voice spoke, and other than the nurse, Professor Blane was the only female staff member, so Tom assumed that it was the groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher who was talking. “What happened?”

The professor who’d been there first let out a long sigh. “I don’t know. Franklin and I were coming up here for a meeting with Armando, and we found him like this. Dead.”

Blane gasped. “But… but he’s the headmaster. He’s… how could this have…?”

There was the sound of soft sobs, but they didn’t come from Blane, they came from someone standing behind her. Tom really wished that he could see what was going on, because this was all rather fascinating. The sobbing man coughed lightly. “I um. I apologize, it’s just-”

Blane responded in a kind voice. “It’s okay, Argo. We all know how close you were with the headmaster.”

Argo Green, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He hiccuped. “I’m sorry, but I can’t, I must-”

The female professor kept her voice gentle. “Don’t worry, Argo, we understand. It’s probably best that you don’t see this. Why don’t you go and make sure that the students are okay?” The meek man nodded and hurried off, leaving Blane, Franklin, and the other professor behind. Blane let out a long sigh. “Those two were much closer than I’ve ever seen men be.”

The first teacher spoke. “You did the right thing in sending him away. We all know that he’ll cope best if he’s got something to be actively working on. Otherwise, he’s going to get flustered, and he’s going to have a breakdown, or let something slip to the students. We need to make an announcement, but we should at least wait until tonight.”

Franklin scoffed. “What are the parents going to think, Albus?” Tom flinched at the name of his least favorite professor. Dumbledore was always the one who seemed to be able to see right through anyone. “The student’s death can be passed off as a suicide, but there’s no way that anyone’s going to believe that the headmaster offed himself at all, let alone the same day as a child. And rather than appoint a new headmaster, the ministry’s just going to shut down this whole school, for good.”

Tom pressed his hand over his mouth to stop another loud gasp from slipping out. If Hogwarts was closed down, then Tom would just be sent back to the orphanage, and he never wanted to go back to that place again. The only reason that he could stand for it in the summer was because he always knew that he’d be back as soon as September rolled around. But Tom wouldn’t be able to survive three whole more years at that awful place.

Dumbledore let out another long sigh. “Well, we certainly cannot hide this from the ministry, if that’s what you were suggesting.”

“No, no, of course not. I’m not stupid enough to believe we’d get away with it even if we did try. And we do need them to give us a new headmaster, if the school is going to remain open at all. But after tonight’s announcement, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone writes home to their parents, and everyone’s parents decides to pull them out.”

Dumbledore responded in a calm voice. “I’ll go the ministry and tell them personally. I don’t think this is the sort of news that ought to be sent by owl. Armanda may have been a bit of a fool sometimes, but he at least deserves the courtesy of his death being announced in person. I’m sure that between the two of you, you’ll come up with something to say to the students. I’ll head off right away. We wouldn’t the ministry thinking that we were trying to hide something of this magnitude from them.”

Blane sounded uncertain. “But what will we do with the body? And how do you break the news to the students? And won’t the children find it too difficult to accept a new headmaster this late into the year?”

Dumbledore didn’t seem particularly concerned. “I’m sure that it’ll all work out for the best. You just need to believe that it will.”

Then there was the sound of retreating footsteps, and Tom waited patiently while the remaining two professors discussed the logistics of the situation before finally leaving as well. Once Tom was sure that the coast was clear, he removed himself from his hiding place, and let out a heavy sigh. Whoever had murdered the headmaster was certainly raising the stakes of whatever deadly little game they were playing.


	18. Chapter 18

Henry stared at Tom with wide eyes. “Are you serious? The headmaster? As in, the guy who’s in charge of this entire school? Is dead?” his voice cracked on that last word, which was perfectly understandable, all things considered.

Tom nodded, almost looking annoyed. “Yes, for like the third time already. Headmaster Dippet is dead. Professor Dumbledore is on his way to see the Ministry now, to make sure they know that the second person in one day is dead. But there’s no way they can accuse Susanna for Dippet too. She’s been handcuffed in the infirmary under strict supervision since they found Myrtle’s body.”

Henry now had a building look of panic on his face. “Saying that means that there’s a chance they could blame Susanna, doesn’t it?” He groaned, and furiously began to pace back and forth. “This can’t be happening. Five years she’s been going to this stupid school, and nothing bad has ever happened to her. Not until-” He turned to look at Tom with a fierce glare. “Nothing bad ever happened to my sister until you became a part of her life.”

Tom frowned. “So what? You’re saying that this is all my fault? Maybe next you’d like to tell me that I’m the one who killed Myrtle and tried to pin it on your sister. Or that I’m the one who killed the headmaster.”

Henry began pacing even quicker. “You were alone in his office with him. All I know is that you gave the password and went first. The door closed right behind you. I tried to use the same password that you did, but it wouldn’t work. So for all I know, it was you!”

The Slytherin straightened up. “I have no use for someone who can’t even think logically. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to my dorm and pretend that I don’t want to murder one of my friends.” He turned and stormed away, heading down to the dungeons.

Henry sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. Tom was right, it wouldn’t make any sense to accuse him. The only fault he had was being a Slytherin and that was entirely out of his control. Plus, there would be no reason for Tom to act so invested in getting his own friend arrested unless he really did believe that his friend was culprit.

Henry headed back to the infirmary, and walked inside. He saw, to his dismay, that Professor Fredwin was sitting in the chair next to Susanna’s bed, where she was still cuffed. He walked closer, and as soon as his sister spotted him, she gave him a relieved smile. She thought that Henry would be able to save her. Henry wished that he didn’t have to disappoint her like this. If he could think of any way to help her, he would do it in a heartbeat.

Henry cleared his throat. “Uh, Professor. I was wondering if I could have a conversation with my sister? Alone?”

Fredwin shook his head. “Not a chance. Who knows what kind of evil plans she could start cooking up as soon as I’m out of her way? She could figure out how to escape, and injure you in the process. I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything were to happen to a student simply because I wanted to give in to his whims. Sorry.”

Susanna practically growled. “Oh, don’t go pretending like you actually care about him. He’s just another ‘pathetic mudblood’ like me, remember?”

Fredwin narrowed his eyes. “I’m sure that I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Susanna rolled her eyes. “Come on! We’re not complete idiots! You’re a purist, and you’d be glad to see the muggle-borns all dead. If I didn’t know that Avery was the one who killed Myrtle, then I’d say that it was you! Maybe you did help him. Maybe you’ve been in on it since the day that I was attacked.” She lifted the edge of her shirt to show her scar, which was still as clear as the day it had been carved into her. “I bet it makes you ecstatic that I’ve got to live with this for the rest of my life, doesn’t it? You’re a sick bastard, and you’re the one who should be thrown into Azkaban for the rest of your life!”

Henry sat down on the edge of Susanna’s bed, and grabbed her free hand. He spoke in a soft voice. “Hey, pissing people off isn’t going to help you at all.”

Susanna slumped down in defeat. “It doesn’t matter what I do anymore, does it? They’ve made up their minds that I’m a murderer. That I would kill my best friend.” She refused to let tears fall. She couldn’t afford to show any weakness in front of this evil professor. “They’re so sure that it’s me.”

Henry shook his head. “No, that’s not true. Fredwin may think so, but that doesn’t mean that everyone agrees with him!”

Fredwin snorted, and pulled a scroll out of one of the inner pockets of his robes. He unrolled it, and held it out in front of Henry. Henry took it with shaky hands, afraid to read whatever that paper was going to say. He quickly scanned it, then let it fall down onto the bedsheets.

Susanna looked at her brother anxiously. “What is it?” She snatched the paper before Henry could take it back. A moment later, she let out a long sigh. She looked up at the professor. “If you could get three other professors to sign this, then either there’s a lot more purists in this school than there’s any right to be, or you’ve got one hell of a silver tongue. Either way, I’ve got no chance.” She put the paper down, and curled up as best she could with one hand being held against the headboard of the bed. 

Henry rubbed soothing circles on Susanna’s back, and tried to pretend that he didn’t notice the way her shoulders were shaking. He also didn’t want the Professor to see any weakness in Susanna. Fredwin needed to see that Susanna was strong, and that she’d be able to make it out of this.

When Henry glanced up out of the corner of his eye, he could see the sour look that Fredwin was directing towards him and his sister. Henry really wished there was a way to get the professor to leave for a minute. He wanted to be able to tell Susanna what had happened to the headmaster, but if he mentioned it now, the professor would demand to know how Henry found out before everybody else. He’d probably be glad to send away two muggle born siblings for murder. 

Susanna knew Henry almost more than he knew himself sometimes, and she could recognize the look on his face that meant he had something important to say. But his eyes kept flicking over to Fredwin, and she was smart enough to know that whatever it was that he needed to say, it couldn’t be said in front of the crazy professor.

She gave him a look that always meant for him to trust her, and even though it only lasted for a second, Henry was still able to catch the look. He gave the slightest nod, and Susanna smiled comfortingly. Which was pretty rich, considering the fact that she was the one who’d just lost her best friend and was about to be locked up for a murder she didn’t commit.

Susanna cleared her throat, then coughed a little bit. A moment later, she began coughing more. She put her hand up to her mouth to cover up her coughing, and when she pulled her hand away, there was a red sticky substance on it.

Fredwin was up like a shot. “Both of you just stay put. I’m getting the nurse right now.”

Susanna nodded towards the empty tray of food next to her bed, and Henry noticed that the little tray of ketchup now only had a little bit left, when Susanna didn’t even like ketchup. He looked closer at the ‘blood’ on her hand. She raised one eyebrow, reminding Henry that he only had a few more seconds before the professor would return. He spoke in a whisper that was so soft, even Susanna had to strain to hear it, and she was sitting right next to him. “Headmaster Dippet is dead. It might’ve been the same person who killed Myrtle. If we can prove that it is the same person, and that Dippet was killed while you were in here, then they’ll have to let you go.”

Fredwin walked back over, and moved to take his seat again, but the nurse ushered him away, complaining about how he was in her way, and blocking all of the good light. She told him to go out into the corridor, and that she would fetch him when he could return to this ‘criminal’ patient’s side.

As soon as he was out of the infirmary, grumbling and groaning the entire way out, the nurse simply handed Susanna a napkin, which the girl used to remove the ketchup that was covering her hand. Then both siblings looked up at the nurse curiously, who just shrugged. “I’ve met killers before. There’s no way that you’re one. Besides, I’ve seen you hanging around with your little friend. Even if you were possibly capable of murder, it would be for your friend, not of your friend. I don’t know why that infuriating man is too incompetent to understand that.”

Henry smiled. “So you really believe that Susanna is innocent?”

The nurse sighed with resignation. “I do. But unfortunately, no one would ever take my word for it. I’m sorry that there isn’t anything else I can do. I really do wish that you can catch the real killer. Well, not you personally. That would be way too dangerous. But I hope that someone does.” She strode across the infirmary to get the professor and tell him that he was now being allowed back in the room of healing. As they walked back over to Susanna’s bed, she sounded chastising. “-I don’t think that you handcuffing that girl to her bedpost is going to accomplish much of anything.”

Fredwin scowled. It was easy enough to manipulate the students into believing that he had total control, but of course the rest of the staff knew differently. And he could only imagine what the nurse had been laughing about with those two troublesome mudbloods while he’d been in the hallway.

Susanna, who had looked totally defeated and crushed before, was now staring up at Fredwin with a defiant expression. The nurse glared at the professor. “Well? Are you going to take the cuffs off or not? They’re not good for my patient, and I promise you that this girl is not a flight risk. If anything happens because the cuffs were removed, then I’ll take full responsibility.”

Fredwin couldn’t feel good about that. He knew that the nurse was going to be on the kid’s side. He should have known that from the start, considering the fact that she’s also a filthy mudblood. He could claim that Susanna caused as much trouble as he wanted to, but then the nurse would just try and make sure she undid all of the damage that had been done.

With no other choice left, he grumbled a simple, “Fine,” and opened the cuffs. Susanna rubbed her sore wrist gratefully, but of course, she didn’t bother thanking Fredwin for actually agreeing to let her go. “But don’t think that I’m going to let her out of my sight for even a moment.”

Susanna frowned. “But I need to use the lavatory.”

The professor looked completely pissed off now. He looked up at the nurse. “I suppose you’ll be accompanying her there, then?”

The nurse wanted to protest and point out that she did have other patients to take care of, and that any kind of emergency could happen while she was gone, but then realized that the alternative was having Fredwin go with Susanna to use the bathroom, which was a ridiculous notion. She sighed, then nodded. “Alright then.”

Fredwin rolled his eyes. “Do try to be back within half an hour.” He seemed perfectly serious when he said that.

Susanna opened her mouth to say something along the lines of, ‘it doesn’t take girls any longer to pee than it takes boys,’ but then she snapped her mouth shut. Half an hour could be just enough time to start getting things done. Henry seemed to realize that too, and he stood up and stretched. “Well, if my sister’s leaving for now, then I think I’ll be on my way.” He left the infirmary at a slow stroll.

Once the three of them were out in the hallway, the nurse sighed loudly. “I’ll be in the women’s lavatory. Make sure that I’ve got someone to walk back to the infirmary with by the time I’m done?”

The siblings nodded, then scampered off. Three other professors had given their signatures in agreement with the idea that Susanna was the murderer. That still left plenty who either believed her innocent, or were still undecided. And no students had been in the infirmary to witness Susanna being arrested other than Tom and Henry. And it wasn’t even really an arrest anyways, since no Ministry officials or law enforcers had shown up.

As much as they wanted to stick together so that they could finally hang out and say what they were actually thinking, it wasn’t logical. If they were caught together and word about Susanna had gotten out, then Henry would get into just as much trouble. Also, they’d be able to get more done if they both went their own ways. Henry was going to head to the dungeons to see if he could get Tom back into the mood where he actually wanted to save Susanna. And then he gave the password to Susanna so that she could go and see if she could figure anything out from the headmaster’s office. 

If both murders had been by the same person, then there could be something about the scene that was the same as Myrtle’s death. And if someone were actually trying to pin it on Susanna, like Fredwin, then maybe there was some false evidence there that pointed to Susanna and could be erased.

They both scampered off in opposite directions. Henry headed down to the dungeons with some apprehension. He wasn’t actually sure where to find the entrance to the Slytherin common rooms, other than the vague ‘somewhere in the dungeons’ that everyone knew. 

As he walked down the dank hallway, he saw several Slytherins walk past him. They all gave him strange looks, thinking that he had absolutely no business being down here, and on that count, they were absolutely right. Henry got the luck of seeing a trio of Slytherins exiting a door, which then sank back into the wall as though it’d never been there. He still didn’t know the password though.

But it turned out he didn’t need one, since third of the trio that had exited was Tom himself. Henry wanted to rush over and start talking to him, but he sort of froze up a moment later. He didn’t recognize one of the boys, tallish with curly black hair, but he did know who the other one was. After everything that he’d done and said to protect Susanna, after everything he’d risked, was it all a lie after all? Was this all just some giant joke to him? Was Henry right to put the blame on Tom’s shoulders? What else could he think, when there was Tom, talking and smiling and laughing with someone who he should hate if he’d been telling the truth. Arm in arm with someone who was quite possibly Myrtle’s real murderer was not how Henry had wanted to find Tom. 

Henry looked away before he could accidentally meet Tom’s eyes. He wanted nothing to do with the slippery Slytherin. And he certainly wanted nothing to do with Avery, who was standing next to him, either.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your encouragement is, as always, a great motivator for me to keep writing! And of course, Tom, a Slytherin, has a plan. There’s no way he’s just going to sit around while Susanna gets shipped off to prison.

Tom had a plan. Not a full plan, of course. Those took time. But he did at least have a partial plan. And he knew that he needed to stay on Avery’s good side. He needed the other purists to think that he was still on their side if he didn’t want to be the next victim on the rapidly growing list. He wouldn’t be of much help to anyone if he was dead.

Sirius kept shooting him strange looks, but Tom decided to ignore it. Sirius was his best friend, and he didn’t want to get into some politics based fight with him. Tom needed to save his energy for fighting Avery. But he’d have to keep it very subtle, since an outright attack wouldn’t end well.

As the trio walked down the hallway, Tom nearly froze in place when he spotted Henry. What the bloody hell was that idiot doing down in the dungeons? He was going to get either Tom or himself killed, and then there would be no one left to look after Susanna. Not that Susanna wasn’t perfectly capable of looking after herself, but the rest of the world didn’t seem to think she was.

Henry looked away, and Tom silently hoped that they’d be able to walk by him without stopping. Avery apparently wasn’t on board with that plan. He spotted the blue lined robes, and slowly stopped, standing right in front of Henry. “What are you doing down here? This is a Slytherin area.”

Henry furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re delusional. Anyone is allowed in the dungeons. The only part that’s for Slytherins only would be the lavatory, since most Slytherins are worth shite anyways.”

Avery’s eyebrows rose up. “Excuse me?”

Henry nodded agreeably. “Sure thing, mate. I was just trying to figure out how I could politely excuse myself so I wouldn’t have to look at you anymore, but you just went and stole the words right out of my mouth. So I’ll just be on my way now.”

Henry started to skirt around the trio, but Tom already knew that there’s no way his ‘friend’ was going to let this go. Avery was the type of person who always demanded respect. Of course, Tom had always been the same way, so it’s not like he had any room to say that he was better. 

Sirius was the one who grabbed the back of Henry’s cape. “Hey. Where do you think you’re going?”

Henry narrowed his eyes. “To find whichever staircase will lead me as far away as possible from you. I wouldn’t want to catch anything from you.”

Sirius’s grip tightened. Tom noticed the way that Henry didn’t look to him for help. Was he smart enough to realize that if he did they’d both be in trouble? Or more likely, had he misinterpreted this entire scene? Tom also wanted to ask why Henry wasn’t with Susanna, though logically they couldn’t stay connected at the hip forever. Plus, if he did try to ask, it would give away the fact that he actually cares. 

Henry just glared at the three Slytherins. “Let go of me right now or I’m going to start screaming.”

Avery snickered like he’d just heard one of the funniest jokes in the world. “You’re going to start screaming like a little girl? Is that it?”

The Ravenclaw tried to tug himself away from Sirius’s grip, to no avail. “Yeah, so what? It doesn’t matter what age or gender a scream reminds you of, as long as it gets plenty of professors and students swarming the area.”

Avery walked so that his nose was less than an inch away from Henry’s. He spoke in a soft growl. “Who’s going to come to help a mudblood whose mudblood sister is a mudblood murderer?”

Henry clenched his jaw. “You’re sick. You’re a sick and twisted bastard, and I wish that you’d just go die. You’re a murderer. First you killed my sister’s best friend, and then you killed the headmaster!”

Sirius shoved Henry forward, then pulled him back by his cape. “Hey. I don’t really appreciate you accusing my friend of murder.”

The shorter boy shrugged. “It’s alright.” He turned towards Henry. “Show me some proof, and maybe I’ll even confess. How does that sound? Do you want to go around fetching ‘evidence’ like some kind of disgusting puppy?”

Henry reached up to unbutton his cloak, and stepped away so that Sirius was left holding a handful of material not connected to anything. “Well, this has been fun. But I’m sure that I have way better things to do with people who actually matter. I believe that you’ve already excused yourself from this conversation, so I don’t think it’s that rude for me to just leave now.” Then he turned and hurried towards the stairs that lead to the entrance hall of the school. 

Sirius looked back and forth between Avery and Tom. Finally, he decided to just focus his attention on Tom. “You were awfully quiet throughout all that. Don’t tell me that you actually think that mudblood bitch is innocent?”

Tom’s eyes widened. He breathed out slowly, trying to think. Did Sirius not know that Avery was the murderer? Because that would just make things even more complicated than they already were. There was no reason for Sirius to suggest that Avery wasn’t the killer when it was just the private company of the three of them.

A moment later, Tom realized that he hadn’t actually said anything in response to Sirius. Maybe he was being suspiciously quiet. Maybe that’s because he didn’t want to have to act like his old self. Tom cleared his throat. “Uh, no.” Sirius frowned. “I don’t think that she’s innocent, I mean,” he turned to peer at Avery. “But of course, there’s no way for me to know for sure, considering the fact that someone decided I should be unconscious right around the time of the murder.”

Avery chuckled and patted Tom on the arm like they’d just shared something important with each other. “Of course. You seemed stressed out. I was just being a good friend by making sure that you got enough sleep. Just being a good friend. No need to jump all over me for that, right?”

Tom raised one eyebrow, and lowered his voice. “Come on, Avery, it’s just me. You know that you can be honest with me, right?”

The younger boy just nodded, and then turned to keep walking. Sirius followed, and Tom stood there wondering what the hell had just happened. He hurried to catch up, not wanting to let Avery think that he’d been upset by what had just happened, or anything like that. Because of course Tom was perfectly fine. He just needed to figure out how to make up with Henry so that he could stay in contact with Susanna, while simultaneously trying to figure out how to get Avery to confess the truth. Because without Avery’s confession, Susanna was pretty screwed.

They all walked into their next classroom together, but Tom was so distracted the whole time that he could hardly focus on the subject matter at all. If he wasn’t so naturally smart, then he would’ve been made to look pretty stupid during this class. Luckily, he’d actually done his homework and reading on time, just like he always did. It was sort of expected of prefects.

By the end of class, Tom felt completely exhausted, and he couldn’t even figure out why. He must’ve looked just as tired as he felt, though, because when he told his best friend that he was just going to go take a nap, Sirius nodded and said he’d cover for Tom in their next class.

As soon as he got the chance, Tom ran to the infirmary. He needed to make sure Henry understood that Tom was still on his side. He needed Henry to know that before that idiot could go and blab something to Susanna that would make her hate Tom forever.

He went into the infirmary, and saw that it was completely empty. He had to hold in a loud scream of frustration that desperately wanted to come out of him. How the heck was he supposed to help Susanna if he didn’t even know where she was? There was the possibility that someone had realized how completely ridiculous Fredwin was being, and Susanna had been released.

That didn’t seem like the most likely possibility, though. The nurse came out of her office a few minutes later, and she didn’t seem to notice Tom as she went about changing the blankets on some of the beds. She looked up in surprise when Tom cleared his throat. “Oh! Mr Riddle. I almost didn’t see you there. I suppose you’re here to visit your friend?” 

Tom nodded eagerly. “Yes, where is she?”

The nurse sighed. “Things have gotten worse. When it was just one crazy old man who is a sickeningly purist piece of crap that was one thing. And then he got three other professors to sign off on his beliefs. He could’ve coerced or bribed them. But now she’s being accused of killing Headmaster Dippet. Worse, she’d confessed.”

Tom’s eyes widened almost comically. “What? What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

The nurse sighed. “The girl said that she did it. She said that she needs to be punished for the blood on her hands, or something like that. Fredwin called in some of his Ministry buddies, and they came here to take Susanna to a temporary prison until she can face trial.”

The Slytherin wanted to scream. “When was this?”

“They left about half an hour ago. Don’t worry, though. It’s not like you’ve got a super strict time limit. Susanna is a minor, which means that her parents need to be present for any sort of trial. Her parents are both muggles, which means that it’ll take a bit of explaining and such to actually get them to the Ministry. You probably have a couple of days before you’ve actually got to worry about the trial.”

Tom gritted his teeth. “Is that really supposed to be making me feel better? Because if it is, you’re a shite nurse.”

The woman tossed down the bed spreads that she was still holding, not caring that they landed on the floor in a tangled heap. She took a few steps forward, her hands pressed against her hips. “Mr Riddle, I don’t care what is going on in your life, you are a student here, and what’s more, you’re a prefect, which means that other students should be able to look up to you. You need to learn to show respect to even the lowliest of staff members, and you need to learn it right now. No amount of cussing or rudeness is going to help your situation any. And need I remind you that I am on your side?”

Tom sighed, and looked down at the floor in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me.”

The nurse snorted. “Don’t worry, I do.” At Tom’s intrigued look, she sighed. “You’re clearly suffering from a good old fashioned case of the feelings, and you’re not even trying to hide it at all. You care about Susanna, and right now you’re scared for her.”

The Slytherin shrugged. “Of course I’m worried about her. She’s my friend. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t care.” 

The nurse sighed. “I’m not talking about feelings of friendship here, Mr Riddle. I’m talking about the sort of feelings that can only be felt between a man and a woman. That’s what you’re suffering from. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly natural. All men eventually find a moment when they realize that they’re having feelings for a woman. You obviously like her, Mr Riddle. Tom. And not as a friend.”

Tom shook his head quickly. “I do not like her as anything more than a friend, I swear,” he said defensively. “I’m not sure where you got any other ideas from, Madame Robbins.”

The nurse shrugged, and bent down to grab the sheets and linens, now that she was done lecturing Tom for being rude to his elder. “I am married, you know. For more years than you’ve even been alive. I’ve seen the way that my husband looks at me. I’ve got three kids, too. And the oldest one, Mabel, is getting married this summer. I’ve seen the way her fiance looks at her. And I’ve seen the way that my father looked at my mother back when they were still alive. There’s one other place I’ve seen that look. It’s on your face when you look at Susanna.” 

Tom shook his head again, which only caused him to be laughed at. “It’s perfectly alright, Tom. Allow me to let you in on a little secret.” She leaned forward, and Tom subconsciously did too. “My mother always looked back at my father, and my daughter always looks back at her fiance, and I always look back at my husband. And your Susanna always looks back at you.”

Before Tom could awkwardly stutter out some kind of reply to that, Madame Robbins was back to pulling off old sheets and replacing them with new ones. After a few minutes of standing there stupidly, it occurred to Tom that he wasn’t the only one being affected by all of this. “Does Henry know? Susanna’s brother, does he know that she’s been taken away already?”

The nurse frowned. “I think that there’s probably some kind of policy or something that would make it necessary for him to be informed, but I honestly don’t know for sure. Maybe you should go find him and make sure that he’s aware. This is the sort of thing that one would probably want to know about one’s sibling.”

Tom shook his head hesitantly. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I mean, it’s not like we’re best friends, or anything like that. Is there some way that you could talk to him? I’m sure he likes you well enough.”

Robbins chuckled softly. “Yes, I suppose that must be true. Who wouldn’t like me after I let a supposed murderer free for quite a long amount of time? I suppose the only one who could possibly be happy in that situation would be the supposed murderer’s brother.”

Tom’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

Robbins sighed. “It’s clear that they needed a little bit of time away from that kooky professor. So I volunteered to take Susanna to the loo, and then I basically took a fifteen minute nap. I’m not sure what she was up to during that time, but I do know that she looked pretty discouraged by the time she got back.” Robbins sat down on the nearest bed, even though she hadn’t finished making it yet. “And then when she came back, she got back into bed. A few minutes later, she tells Professor Fredwin that she wants to talk to him in private. The next thing I know, she’s confessing to a couple of murders that she obviously didn’t commit.”

Tom nodded. “Yeah. It would be impossible for her to murder her best friend, and there’s no way she could’ve snuck out of here right under Fredwin’s nose to go and kill the headmaster. Unless Fredwin is trying to say that he’s incompetent and foolish? Because he would definitely be right about that.”

Robbins swatted Tom’s shoulder gently. “Just forget about whatever problems you’ve got between the two of you, and go tell Henry that his sister’s being held in a temporary prison until the time of the trial. There isn’t anything he can do about it, but the poor lad deserves to know his sister’s fate.”

Tom nodded, and started towards the door. Then he paused and turned back. “I really don’t like Susanna. Not like that, anyways. Like I said, she’s a friend of mine, and I enjoy being in her company. That’s it.”

Robbins nodded knowingly. “Sure thing, Mr Riddle. Why don’t you try explaining that to Susanna herself once you get the chance? I think she deserves to know that all the looks she’s been sending you haven’t been returned.”

Tom rolled his eyes, and hurried away from the infirmary, ready to track down Henry and do whatever it takes to get him to listen when Tom told him that Susanna had been attacked and was now being taken away. If anyone could be counted on to do whatever it takes to protect Susanna, it would be Henry. And Tom had absolutely no idea what it would take to set Susanna free again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOH sick burn bruh. Everyone knows that only puppies can collect evidence for criminal investigations


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Susanna didn’t actually commit the murders, so it is odd that she confessed. And I always felt like she’s had some pretty good chemistry with Tom right from the start
> 
> Ah, Susanna is a clever girl, so she wouldn’t do something stupid for no reason (probably). I wasn’t quite sure how to explain love since I’ve never had it before, so I hope that it worked.

Tom realized pretty quickly that he actually had no idea of where he could find Susanna’s brother. He hadn’t hung around with Henry enough to know what the other boy liked to do in his free time, or even who he liked to hang around with. Tom couldn’t help feeling totally freaked out. He couldn’t find Henry, and he had no idea why Susanna would’ve confessed to the murders. She was obviously innocent. Anyone with half a brain could see that. She was too devastated by her best friend’s death to have been the one responsible for it.

After looking around a few common areas in the school, Tom still had no luck tracking down Henry. He decided to head down to Fredwin’s office to see if the man had returned yet, and to see if there was anything useful that he could tell Tom. Odds are that he would keep his lips sealed, but everyone made mistakes and had an occasional slip up.

Tom knocked on the door to Fredwin’s office, and there was no response. He tried wiggling the knob, but it was locked. Perfect. If Fredwin had anything to do with this beyond the arresting Susanna part, then there could be some evidence locked up in his office. And since he was currently out, it was a good time to start searching.

Tom quickly spelled the lock open, and slipped into the office. He closed the door behind him before anyone could walk down the corridor and notice him breaking into a professor’s office. Light streamed in through the windows, though there were plenty of candles on the walls to be seen at night.

The Slytherin walked over to the large desk, and saw that it was a completely disorganized mess. There were sheaves of parchment strewn all over, and books piled up in precariously balanced stacks that looked like they were going to plummet down any minute.

Tom wasn’t even sure what he was looking for exactly. He didn’t think that Fredwin had a written and signed confession lying around, though with the amount of mess that was here, it wouldn’t surprise Tom much if he did happen to find such a document.

He saw a photo lying facedown on the desk, and picked it up. There was Fredwin, standing gingerly next to a woman who handed him a baby. Did Fredwin have a wife? A child? If he did, then he certainly didn’t look too enthusiastic about it. Tom wondered why the professor would leave this awkward photo lying around. If the figures in it moved for another few seconds, it would probably show Fredwin handing the baby back, not wanting to keep touching it.

Tom shuffled through some of the loose papers, but they mostly seemed to be student assignments that still needed to be graded. Then there was a copy of the Daily Prophet that looked to be about a thousand years old, though according to the date it was only from five years ago. There was an article circled in dull red ink on the second page. It showed a young man and woman looking around awkwardly, looking around like they expected something to jump out at them. A quick scan of the article showed that it was about the fact that the Matheus’ had just gotten the news that their second child was also magical. It was newsworthy because they were muggles, and muggles having multiple magical children was rather unusual.

Tom also read that they had a four year old, and that everyone was wondering if the youngest child would also prove to be a muggleborn wizard. The kid would only be about nine now, so it was still probably too early to tell. Tom wondered what the odds were of two muggles having two, maybe three, wizards. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that one of the parents had to be descended from Rowena Ravenclaw, which meant that at some point, there had been magic in one of the family lines.

Tom put the newspaper down. It was strange that it looked like Fredwin had had some strange interest in Susanna, or at least in her family, even before all of this trouble. Maybe if he was a purist, he hated that there was one family producing so many muggleborns. Now wasn’t the time to try and figure that out, though. Creepiness wouldn’t be enough to save Susanna.

The prefect pulled open the top drawer of the desk, and saw that it held a clipped newspaper article. It showed a picture of the same woman who’d been in the picture on top of the desk. She was wearing a wedding gown and standing arm in arm with some random guy in a nice tuxedo. It took Tom a moment to realize what seemed so odd about the photo. He found it strange to look at because it was perfectly still. A muggle newspaper article? Why would a purist have one of those? And what was the connection between this and the fact that she’d been handing Fredwin her baby? It didn’t make any sense.

But Tom didn’t care to delve into his professor’s personal life, so he decided to just keep searching. There was a bookshelf full of large tomes. Among them was a binding with no title. Tom pulled it off the shelf, and saw that it was a photo album. He’d said he didn’t care about Fredwin’s life, but what if there was a clue hidden somewhere in here? That would make him obligated to check, to ensure that his investigation was as thorough as possible. 

Tom flipped through, and saw immediately that the first half of the book held only muggle photographs. Apparently Fredwin had been more attractive in his youth. There were pictures of him with the other woman, and they looked so happy together, at the zoo, at the park, on a couch, everywhere.

Then there was a point where the pictures were normal again. The woman had a look of wonderment on her face in the first normal picture, as it showed Fredwin casting a spell for her to see. He was telling her about magic. There were more photos, showing a happy looking couple.

Then there was another copy of the article that had been in the desk, of the woman getting married. According to the article, her name was Tolli Parkman, though that would change once she was wed. It was a marriage announcement, as she was now engaged to a man named Jacob, with the last name too smudged to read. The article was dated from nearly twenty years ago. 

Now Tom was actually curious to learn what had happened in between the happy looking pictures, and this Tolli woman getting married to some other guy. It just didn’t seem right. There had to be an interesting story behind it all.

Before Tom had any time to react, the office door swung open, and Fredwin strode in. He blinked a few times in confusion when he spotted the student standing at his desk. Then his eyes slid down to the see the photo album, and he looked angry. He rushed forward to snatch it. “What the bloody hell are you doing in here, Riddle? Do you think that it’s some kind of joke to break into a professor’s office?”

Tom shook his head. “No sir. I just wanted to-”

Fredwin sank down into his seat, and motioned for Tom to sit down in the chair across from him. He reached into the bottom desk drawer and pulled out muggle alcohol. He drank straight from the bottle, then ran his hands over the fraying cover of the album

He sighed loudly. “Tolli Parkman. Her parents clearly had a sense of humor. She got that from them.” Tom said nothing, hoping that the professor would continue. “We met by accident. I had to take a course at a muggle college to get full credits in my muggle studies class, and there was a connection between us as soon as our eyes met.” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

Tom shrugged. “You know that you can tell me anything sir. Just like you could tell Avery or Sirius anything.”

Fredwin looked at Tom appraisingly for a moment, then nodded. “I courted her for a while. Then the semester was ending and we wanted to stay in contact. That’s when I showed her the secrets of the wizarding world. She was incredibly impressed. Thought that I was incredible. Things only got more serious between us. We did some things that we never should’ve done without being married first. Turns out she was pregnant, and I proposed to her, and she rejected me, saying that she was seeing someone else behind my back. Some muggle,” he spat, “and that she was going to marry him. Said that it could never work between us. Then she has the nerve to come crawling back to me when she finds out that she still had feelings to me. I was stupid enough to actually believe she wanted to be back with me. Turns out she only came to me because she’s got a kid that I’m the father of. She wanted me to take the brat, because she was afraid to have her baby grow up with magic.”

Tom frowned. “So you turned her down?”

Fredwin took another sip of his alcohol. “Of course I did. I wasn’t going to take in some baby that was partly muggle. That would be disgusting.” He grabbed the slightly more recent article off his desk and threw it at Tom. “And then I find out that she apparently got pregnant from that affair we had, too.”

Tom looked down, and it was the article about the Matheus’. Looking closer at the picture, he could now recognize the woman as an older version of the Tolli from the other pictures. She was harder to recognize with more wrinkles and less makeup, but it was definitely the same person. Tom read the article again, this time focusing on the names. Tolli and Jacob Matheus, parents of Henry, Susanna, and Emilia Matheus. He’d seen the names the first time he’d looked at the article, but it hadn’t occurred to him what that really meant.

Tom couldn’t stop himself from gasping. “Henry and Susanna… you’re their- their father.”

Fredwin shrugged. “Who knows,” he muttered.

Tom stood up, clutching the article close to his chest. “They don’t even know.” He gulped. “Oh god, they don’t even know.” After taking a moment to compose himself, he stared at the drunk professor accusingly. “You’re sending your daughter to prison for a murder that you know she didn’t commit! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Fredwin tilted back the bottle to chug down the rest of its contents. “Muggles are evil. Muggle borns and half bloods are just as evil because they’ve got muggle blood running through their veins. More sludge than blood inside of them.”

Tom stomped forward, and slapped Fredwin so hard his head snapped back. “So you meet one nasty bitch and decide to write off an entire population? What gives you the right?”

The professor laughed, apparently not all that upset about being assaulted by a student, and then coughed when he accidentally swallowed some of the blood coming from his newly split lip. “You know, they always said the same thing about you. That you couldn’t stand muggles. That you could see why mudbloods are so worthless compared to us real wizards. And now you’re all sympathetic? Eh, I guess it does make sense. It’s not like your blood is any cleaner than hers.”

Tom balled his hands into fists, and he looked like he was ready to start throwing punches. “I think that I must’ve been crazy. I was just as bad as you. I was angry at the world, and at the woman who gave birth to me. I was pissed off, and decided that I was better than everyone else just because I happened to be better than them.” He paused. “Er, wait, scratch that. The point is that I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t matter what’s in someone’s blood. Because Susanna Matheus is one of the bravest, kindest, smartest, most honorable people I know. Which is absolutely crazy, considering just what blood is flowing through her. And I don’t mean mud. I mean yours. You’re psychotic. You’re insane. You can’t let Susanna suffer like this just because you’re pissed off at your ex, and you probably think that this is some kind of twisted punishment. Well snap out of it! Tolli Matheus isn’t the only one who’s going to suffer! Susanna is your daughter! Your flesh and blood! Even if she only exists because your psycho ex tricked you and told you she wanted you back, and you were stupid enough to fall for it, she’s your daughter. And I hope to god she never finds that out, but you can’t punish her for something that has nothing to do with her. You just can’t!” Tom didn’t think he’d ever sounded so passionate about something in his entire life. 

Fredwin stood up, and though he physically towered over Tom, he still felt like he had to tilt his head back to look at the boy. “You’ve got no idea what the hell you’re talking about. I shouldn’t have said anything. This is all far too complicated for your tiny brain to comprehend.”

Tom had to take several deep breaths to stop himself from whipping out his wand and hexing the professor. “Why did Susanna confess? We both know that she had nothing to do with the murders. She’d never have hurt her best friend in a million years. She would’ve died for Myrtle, not killed her. And she had no reason to fight against the headmaster, either.”

The adult shrugged. “Why did your friends attack Susanna in the first place and scar her for life? Why does anybody do anything anymore? It’s because they’ve got something to believe in. Your buddies believe in hurting and humiliating mudbloods because they have faith that they are the superior stock. Susanna believes in protecting the people she cares about.” A sneer crossed Fredwin’s face. “She cares about protecting you, and everybody can see it. She has some fantastical idea that she can save you, and then the two of you will prance off into the sunset together, or something.”

Tom frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Well she’s clearly over the moon about you-”

Tom shook his head. “No, not that. What did her confession have to do with protecting me?”

Fredwin snorted. “Your pal told her that either she takes the blame, or you would. Of course, that’s complete bull. That boy is a fan of yours through and through. He idolizes every single thing about you. He’d never toss you aside. He’ll do everything in his power to get you back to ‘normal’. But your foolish little girlfriend couldn’t figure that part out. So she agreed to confess. It was extremely stupid and naive of her, but she agreed to take the blame on the condition that you don’t have to.”

Tom clenched his teeth together angrily. “Where is she right now?” Fredwin sank back down into his seat, and picked up the empty bottle. He looked at it in disappointment once he realized that it was indeed completely empty. Tom growled menacingly. “Where is she?”

The professor sighed. “At a temporary lockup in the Ministry of Magic. She’ll be there until her parents can show up. It may take time to explain everything to them, since they are just a pair of idiotic muggles. The most they know about their children is that they have magic. But they couldn’t ever possibly understand their children. Not when they’re muddied through and through.”

Tom swore under his breath, ignoring the continued ramblings of the professor, then ran out of the office. He rushed down the hallways, swerving all around. He needed to find Henry. While it wouldn’t be any kinder to explain to Henry about his true parentage, it also seemed like it might be kind of important in getting to Susanna, and getting her free. If only that stupid kid wasn’t avoiding Tom. How the hell was he supposed to help Susanna if he couldn’t even track down her irritating older brother? And that was all on top of hoping that Fredwin would either be too drunk or too embarrassed to tell anyone that Tom had broken into his office and hit him. It was turning out to be a real bitch of a day today.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big discoveries are usually the results of me writing when I’m very tired. I can’t wait to see how Tom deals with everything, since I’m pretty much just winging it at this point

Tom finally spotted Henry in the library, and he quickly darted forward to grab the other boy by the back of his shirt before he could see Tom and slip away again. When Henry turned around, there was a big look of irritation on his face. “What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? Can’t I even study in peace?”

Tom tilted his head curiously. “What were you studying so intently?”

Henry scowled. “Wizarding law. And don’t even think of offering your help. You were raised by muggles too so you wouldn’t know any more about this crap than I do. Now go away and leave me alone.”

Tom shook his head, getting back to the reason he was still holding Henry’s shirt. “I have to tell you something very important. I know who your father is.”

Henry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What are you talking about? I know who my father is, too. Why is this so important that you’ve been stalking me all across the school?”

Tom bit his lip. He didn’t want to blurt out such private information right out here in the open, where anyone could be listening in. It wouldn’t be very fair to Henry or Susanna. “Eh, that doesn’t matter right now. I also know why Susanna confessed to the murders.” Then again, that was also something that should be discussed in private if he didn’t want to risk anyone getting word back to Avery or Sirius or any of the others. “Can we go somewhere more private to talk?”

Henry shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere with a demonic purist like you. I don’t care about anything you have to say.”

Tom gave Henry his best pleading look. “Even if it could mean saving Susanna from being imprisoned for her whole life?” 

Tom had to give Henry some credit for being so stubborn. “I don’t care about anything you have to say to me. As far as I’m concerned, every single word that comes out of your mouth is just another lie, and I’m not going to-”

Tom yanked Henry up to his feet, and dragged the other boy closer so they were standing practically nose to nose. He spoke in a soft, dangerous voice. The one that had gotten others to do what he asked of them for as long as he could remember. While he was maybe trying to become a better person, he was going to do whatever was necessary to save Susanna. “You listen to me, you little shit. Susanna’s in trouble right now, and like it or not, we both lo- we both care about her. We both want her to be set free. And since we seem to be the only ones in the whole school who give a damn, we’re best off working together.” Then he let go of Henry’s shirt, though he didn’t move back at all. “If you’re going to let your sister rot in a prison cell for the rest of her life, then I guess you can’t really care all that much about her.”

Henry frowned, an angry crease to his eyebrows. “You’re a bastard.”

Tom nodded calmly. “I know. Now are you going to let me help you or not?”

Henry glanced down at the table covered in books, all opened to various pages, covered in way more information than Henry could ever hope to process in just a couple of days. He finally sighed in defeat, and motioned for Tom to follow him as he walked towards the library exit.

They ended their short trip in one of the little classrooms that was never used anymore, and both boys cast various spells to make sure that they’d have absolute privacy. Henry looked over at Tom grudgingly. “So what was so important that you needed to talk about?”

Tom sighed. “Susanna took the blame for the murders because she was threatened.”

Henry looked doubtful of that. “Do you even know my sister at all? She laughs at threats. She interprets them as challenges. She would never be scared off by some stupid threats.”

Tom almost regretted dragging Henry into this. “Well, she’s not the one that was threatened.” He sighed. “She was told that if she didn’t take the blame for the murders, then I’d be the next one framed for them. And no matter what else is going on, your sister is a good person. She wasn’t going to let another innocent person take the blame.”

Henry looked horrified. “Are you saying that she martyred herself for you? Is she being a complete idiot because it’s you that was involved? Whoever threatened her could’ve used me easily enough, but they chose to pick on you. Why? Because they knew she’d give in if it meant letting you stay free.” Henry let out a soft puff of air. “I can hardly believe it. My sister fancies you. I can’t say that I saw that one coming.”

Tom gulped, and felt a strange swirling sensation in his stomach. “What makes you say that?”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Because a girl doesn’t go and take the blame for a couple of murders she didn’t commit for just anybody! That’s the kind of thing that a girl saves for the bloke that she figures out she fancies.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not starting to get any bright ideas, are you? Because I don’t want you to be under the impression that any sort of anything between the two of you could ever be possible.”

It took a lot of self control for Tom to stop his face from immediately flushing a dark red. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Henry sighed, but didn’t push any further on that subject. “So is that all you can tell me? That she took the blame for a little git like you? That’s hardly useful in the long run, since I highly doubt that either of us are good enough to get the real killer to confess in front of everybody.”

Tom tilted his head. “We don’t have to catch the real killers to free Susanna, though, right? I mean, anyone who ends up taking the blame would be cause for them to just let her go.”

Henry narrowed his eyes. “Are you seriously suggesting that we frame someone? The same way that Susanna was framed? Not only is that idea absolutely nuts, but there’s no way that Susanna would ever agree to it!”

Tom shrugged. “Then I guess it’s a good thing that she’s not currently at the school, and has no say in anything that happens here. If she’s going to go around being such a complete idiot all the time, then the least that we can do is return the favor by acting like complete idiots and saving her, no matter what it takes.”

Henry gulped nervously. “I’m not so sure that I like the sound of that, though. There’s no way you can claim that the ends justifies the means here. Thanks to Susanna, you know how much it’ll ruin the life of whoever you happen to saddle the blame to.”

Tom narrowed his eyes. “Do you really think that there’s no one else in this entire school who is worse than Susanna?”

Henry took a step back, though it didn’t look like he’d meant to do that. “It doesn’t matter. The only person who deserves to be accused of murder is the person who actually murdered somebody. Two somebodies! Do you really think that they’re going to go easy on someone who supposedly killed the headmaster? Because I don’t think they will. Something like this has never happened before, but there’s no reason the Ministry would think of it as just another murder. We can’t just accuse someone innocent of something so horrible. How would we be any better than Avery if we did?”

Tom crossed his arms over his chest. “Has no one ever told you before that sometimes you’ve got to stoop to your enemy’s level if you want to win?”

“Of course not, because that’s ridiculous! Susanna would hate us both for the entire rest of our lives if we tried something that stupid! Is that what you want? Are you really going to try and tell me you’d want her back even if it meant you’d never get to see her again? Because maybe it’s just me, but I’m too selfish for that. Which is why I’m going to try and find another way out of this. You said you wanted to help. So help me. Because we’re doing this my way or not at all.”

Tom clenched his hands into fists. “I know who your father is.”

Henry frowned. “Yeah, you said that back in the library. What the bloody hell is it even supposed to mean?”

Tom closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then let it out. “It’s not the guy who’s married to your mother. Your mom had an affair. You and Susanna don’t have the same father as your little sister.”

Henry’s eyes widened, and then a pained expression crossed his face. He spoke in a stiff voice. “Susanna’s told you about Emilia?”

Tom shook his head slowly. “No. I didn’t even know you guys had a sister until I read her name in an old newspaper article.”

Henry looked at Tom searchingly, and finally, he sighed in defeat, and his shoulders slumped down. Even he knew that Tom was his best chance of helping his sister, so he figured that there was no point in lying to him. He seemed to forget for a moment that Tom had just been trying to tell him that his father wasn’t the man he thought he was. “Susanna and I don’t have a little sister. We used to, but we haven’t in for a while now.”

Tom tilted his head curiously, and leaned back against the wall in a lazy manner. “What do you mean?”

Pain and sadness flashed through Henry’s eyes. “Four years ago, Emilia was five. She was too little to really understand what it meant when Susanna and I left for months at a time, and it’s not like we could show her our magic at home without getting into trouble. But she’s always been a curious little thing. So when our parents dropped us off at King’s Cross in September all those years ago, Emilia threw a big fuss. She didn’t want us to leave again. When it had been just me it had been bearable for her because she still had Susanna, but at that point it would be just her.” Henry’s voice shook a little bit. “Susanna and I didn’t find out until a couple of weeks later. Emilia had tried to run away, to get to the station and follow us to Hogwarts. She was hit by a car before she even made it to the next block over.” Henry lowered his gaze so that he was just staring at the floor. “And I only told you so you wouldn’t be able to accuse me of keeping things from you,” he mumbled.

Tom gulped, and spoke in a soft voice. “I’m so sorry, Henry. I had no idea.”

Henry shrugged. “It was a while ago. Just don’t bring her up around Susanna. My sister blames herself. She thinks that if she’d just turned down the invitation, and stayed at home, then Emilia would’ve never tried to run off.” He reached up to rub his eyes a few times, then cleared his throat, and looked back up at Tom. “I guess we’ll never know if our family was meant to have three muggle born wizards in it. Anyways, what was it that you were saying about my father?”

Tom didn’t have it in him to tell Henry the truth. Not yet, anyways. Maybe not ever. If Henry and Susanna had been able to happily live their lives all these years never knowing who their real father was, then there was no reason that they wouldn’t be able to continue to do so long after this business was all over.

Tom just shook his head. “Er, it was nothing. Really. I was just trying to be funny, that’s all.” He shook his head again, and a look of determination covered his features. “I’m not going to let you lose another sister. So if we’re not going to be pinning the blame on someone else, then what can we do to get her set free, now that she’s already gone and stupidly confessed to the crimes?”

Henry sighed. “I have no idea. I’ve been scouring through all kinds of books on wizarding law, but as far as I can tell, there’s never been a situation like this before. The only potential good part of that is that the Ministry won’t know what to do anymore than we do. At least for now. They’ll figure something out eventually, though. I hope that our parents take a very long time to get to Susanna, so that we’ve got more time to work on figuring this all out. For now, we need to keep searching the books. There’s got to be something there that would tell us what to do. I don’t know if they can really throw a minor into Azkaban, or if the sentence would be death because a very important person was murdered, but I know that we’ve got to figure this out ourselves.”

“And you’re absolutely certain that framing someone is off of the table?”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m certain. Susanna would probably find it within herself to commit a murder if she found out that that’s how we set her free. And then it would be my gravestone being erected next.”

Tom sighed. “Well, alright then. I guess it’s true that it wouldn’t make her entirely happy, either.” He started towards the door of the empty classroom. “Come on. Let’s go back to the library to see what we can find.” He paused as he walked past Henry. “And just for the record? I’m a bit selfish too when it comes to Susanna.”

They walked back to the library in companionable silence. When they got there, Tom could feel the heated glares of a few different students. There were a couple Slytherin purists, wondering what the hell he was doing with a muggleborn. Then there were a few Ravenclaws giving Henry strange looks, curious about what he was doing with Tom, who everyone secretly already thought of as a purist. 

Tom thought it best to just ignore the looks being sent their way, and pretend that this was all perfectly normal stuff going on. Just as they were sitting down, Tom looked up when he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. It would be beyond rude to ignore someone directly trying to direct him.

When he did look up, the first thing he saw was boobs. So he quickly stood up, preferring to look her in the face. It was Vanessa Guard. Tom hadn’t seen her around in a while. She put her hands on her hips. “Tom,” she purred. “It’s been so long since the last time we’ve talked. Have I done something to upset you? Because if I have, I’d love to give you a grand apology.”

Tom shook his head. “Ah, sorry, Vanessa. I’ve just been really busy with a bunch of other stuff, so I haven’t really had time to hang out with anyone lately.”

Vanessa’s eyes flicked towards Henry briefly, who was staring at an open book, pretending to not listen in on the conversation, just like everyone else in the library at the moment. “Yet it seems that you’ve got plenty of time to hang around with the murderess’ brother.”

Tom clenched his teeth. “I dare say that one is innocent until proven guilty. Besides, we’re not having a social visit. We’re just studying together.”

Vanessa arched one eyebrow. “What do you need to study for? You’ve already got top marks in every subject. You’re a perfect little prefect, remember? And as for the girl, I would agree with you, except for the fact that I hear she’s confessed and been whisked away to get the Dementor’s Kiss already.”

Tom had to refrain from reaching out and grabbing Vanessa’s shoulders. “Where the hell did you hear that?”

Vanessa shrugged. “Come with me to somewhere more private, and maybe I’ll tell you.”

Tom sighed, and shook his head. He responded in a flat voice. “Sorry, Vanessa, but I really am busy studying right now.”

A look a disbelief crossed the pureblood girl’s face. She darted forward to grab one of the books from the table, and slammed it shut to look at the cover. “‘An Introduction to Wizarding Law by Dwight Greytail’? What the hell do you need to study that for?” She nodded in realization. “Oh, I get it. You’re trying to figure out how to spring your girlfriend from jail, is that it?” Tom shrugged. “I see how it is then. You don’t have time for me anymore because you’re busy advocating for that she-devil. Well just don’t come running back to me when you figure out that she’s only using you.”

Tom scowled. “For what?”

Vanessa giggled. “If you need me to spell it out for you, then you’re a lot dumber than I’ve always thought.” She grabbed Tom’s tie to pull his face closer to hers. “And I’m not talking about sex.” She leaned back, and sighed. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go find someone else to bother while you pine over your unrequited love. You used to be a great man, Tom. Now you’re just weak.”

Tom quirked up one side of his mouth in a partial smile. “Wouldn’t all of the weaklings working together make for a much stronger force than the singular strongman who has no friends?”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “You don’t need friends to get ahead in this world, Tom. Just the right connections, and the ability to inspire the right emotions in people.”

Tom shrugged. “Then I guess you’re right, I have gone soft,” he tilted his head thoughtfully. “Then again, now that I think about it, I’ve always been completely soft around you.”

Vanessa’s face burned bright red, and she turned to stomp away. Tom snickered before sinking back down into the seat next to Henry, and flipping open the book in front of him to the first page. Henry peered up at Tom out of the corner of his eye, and gave the Slytherin a slight smile. Then they both turned to their books. They had a lot of reading ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh roasted


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that so far almost everything has been from Tom’s perspective, but I kinda need to mix it up a bit for the story to go on.

The loud banging sound woke Susanna up with a soft groan. She slowly sat up, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She looked over at the bars in front of her, and saw one of the Ministry officials who had been in charge of filling out paperwork for her ‘case’. He was definitely one of the meaner men in the place. 

“You know, they say that only the guilty can sleep when they’re in jail?”

Susanna raised one eyebrow defiantly. “So what? I’ve already confessed to the crimes. Everyone already knows that I’m guilty, and I’ve been sleeping like a babe every night for the past week. Now tell me what you want, or leave me alone.”

The official’s face soured at that. “You’re going on trial today.”

That got Susanna’s attention for sure. She immediately jumped to her feet, and grabbed onto the bars desperately. “That can’t be right! I was told that no trial can go on until my parents can get here?”

The official sneered, “Guess who’s waiting for you in the interrogation room?” He pulled out his wand. “Step back. You should know the drill by now.” Susanna obliged, and a moment later the cell door swung open silently, and then a pair of cuffs snapped around Susanna’s wrists. “Come on, follow me. I’ll take you to your parents so they can say goodbye before you get the kiss of doom.”

Susanna scowled, but she did follow the official. What else could she do? A few minutes later, they went into a dark room. Susanna was shoved inside and the cuffs were attached to the table. Then the official left and the door was swung shut. There were all kinds of wards around the room that prevented even the tiniest use of magic from anyone wearing handcuffs at the time.

The Ravenclaw felt tears of relief leaking from the corners of her eyes when she saw the familiar couple standing stiffly on one side of the table. While logically she knew that there was no way for them to get her out of this mess that she’d gotten herself into, she also instinctively looked to her parents to make everything okay, the same way that any scared kid would.

Tolli Matheus hurried around the table to pull her daughter into a hug, even though Susanna couldn’t return the gesture, thanks to being cuffed to the table. Then her mother leaned back, and had such an anxious look on her face. “Baby, what’s going on? Everyone keeps saying that you… you killed people. But that’s impossible. You wouldn’t even harm a fly, would you?”

Jacob Matheus stayed where he was. Susanna wasn’t even offended by that. She knew that her father was generally a man of few words, even in the toughest situations. But to her surprise, he did take a few steps closer. “Why would they think that you’ve done such a thing?”

In that moment, Susanna remembered the very important fact that her parents were both muggles, and they couldn’t even understand what was going on, let alone get her out of it. Which meant she’d have to feed them the same lie as everyone else. She spoke in a soft voice, afraid of the reaction that she’d get. “Because I did do it.” 

Tolli took a few steps back so she was standing even with her husband. She let out a little gasp and shook her head. “No, that’s impossible. What’s really going on?”

Susanna shrugged. “What’s going on is that I’m about to go on trial for murder. And I’m not- I’m not innocent. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mum.”

Tolli shook her head again. “We had to accept that the world was different than we always thought. We’ve had years to get used to that idea. And now you’re telling me that my sweet little girl is a murderer?”

Susanna frowned. “Why can’t you believe me?”

The two adults exchanged a glance, and then Jacob spoke. “Because we know you. We know that you’d never be able to do something like this.”

Susanna knew it was entirely irrational, but she was almost starting to get angry with her parents for not believing her. She took a deep breath, then let it out. She’d always heard that all of the best lies were told with a hint of truth in them. “This isn’t the first time I killed someone.” 

Tolli sucked in a sharp gasp. “What are you talking about?”

Susanna squeezed her eyes shut so that she wouldn’t have to look at her parents. “It’s my fault that Emilia died.” She didn’t pause or open her eyes, because she didn’t want to face her mother during her confession. “I sent her an owl. I was lonely and scared to be away from home. I said that it would’ve been cool if she could come and visit me and Hogwarts. So she actually tried to come. She never would’ve left the house if she hadn’t thought that I was asking her to.”

There was a moment of silence, and then she felt soft hands on top of hers. “We already know about that letter.”

Susanna’s eyes snapped open, and she stared at her mom in surprise. “What?”

“She couldn’t exactly read it herself, not in that fancy script of yours. So when she brought it to us, we didn’t think there would be anything wrong with reading it to her. We didn’t want to say anything about it to you, because we knew that you’d blame yourself for it. I didn’t think you knew your letter had even reached her in time.”

Jacob nodded in agreement with his wife’s story. “No one blames you for what happened to Emilia. She was always a curious kid, wanting to go against the rules. I think she got that from you.” He took a deep breath. “Now tell us what’s really going on. We know you, Suzy. You’re not a murderer.”

Susanna looked around the interrogation room, like she was afraid that someone else had slipped in while she wasn’t looking. There wasn’t anyone else there, but she knew that any of the wards in the room could easily be used for others to listen in on any conversations. 

And even though Susanna was getting more and more frightened, she knew that she couldn’t let Avery just throw Tom under the bus. Despite what a lot of kids seemed to think, Tom was actually a good person. He didn’t deserve to have his entire life ruined just because he’d wanted to be friends with Susanna. Which is why she had to stay strong, no matter how tempting it was to just give in. “I killed them.”

Tolli looked like she wanted to grab Susanna by the shoulders and shake the girl back and forth a few times. “But why would you do that? Myrtle was your best friend! You only wrote about her in nearly every single one of your letters! Why would you ever want to harm your best friend?”

Susanna pressed her lips together. She wasn’t going to let Tom go down for something he didn’t do. Not when he was finally starting to figure out how to turn his life around. Jacob stepped forward, and tried to appeal to Susanna’s logic, and sense of self-preservation. “A lot of people have talked to us lately. And what the majority of them said was that if you are found guilty, you’ll be thrown into a horrible prison guarded by some kind of soul sucking monsters. You must be able to see why you’d have to be a complete idiot to let that happen.”

Susanna looked up at her parents, a bit puzzled. “Why are you fighting this so hard? I’ve already told you, I’m a murderer. Shouldn’t you give up by now?”

Both Jacob and Tolli knelt down so that they could wrap Susanna into a tight hug. Tolli shook her head. “Oh sweetie, we’ll never give up on you. Family never gives up on family.”

Before anything else could be said, the door to the interrogation room swung open, and a couple of officials walked in. Susanna didn’t recognize any of them, and none of them had the decency to even look her in the eyes. One of them motioned for Jacob and Tolli to step away from their daughter, and they reluctantly obliged.

“Susanna Matheus, we are about to lead you to a courtroom of your magical peers, where you will be judged in the matter of a double homicide. Do you understand that you have no rights until the time of the commencement of the trial, and that everything you say will be used against you?”

Susanna gulped, and nodded meekly. The official uncuffed her, and began leading her down a hallway. Her parents followed behind as closely as they could. They veered off into a room full of floo spots, and one of her handcuffs was transferred to the wrist of one of the officials. So she had no chance of squirming away during the trip. 

They arrived at the courthouse a few minutes later, and to Susanna’s surprise, the courtroom she was led into was pretty fully packed. There were lots of students from Hogwarts (even though probably not all of them had permission to be out of school at the moment) and a bunch of adults. Presley Greywood, the new interim Hogwarts headmaster, was in attendance, along with a few professors. 

Fredwin was sitting in one of the front row seats, but instead of looking gleeful that Susanna was going to be punished, his eyes were glazed over and there was a dull expression on his face. Which was odd, because the only bottle in his hand was one of butterbeer, and Susanna had never met anyone besides herself who could get drunk on the stuff.

Tolli followed her daughter’s gaze, and gasped loudly when she spotted the drunken professor. She stumbled forward, and Jacob had to grab her arm to steady her. He looked at her with concern, but she just shook her head. There was no way she was going to be getting into her history with that man in the crowd. Who was apparently a wizard related to this case. Small world.

A bunch of ministry officials were sitting several feet above everyone else so that the person at the podium would be forced to look up at them. There was a lot of shouting coming from the stands. People calling her a murderer, and others calling for her freedom.

Susanna was led to the podium that was in the center of the open space in the room. It felt like a gladiator arena, with the crowded benches enclosed around the small space that Susanna had to fight for her life in.

She looked around, and spotted Henry and Tom sitting next to each other, both looking equally scared, but neither of them looked particularly mad at each other. Maybe that was one good thing to come out of all of this?

There was a loud booming call for silence, and the crowd quieted down. Zsaz Eriwrinkle, the minister of magic, looked down on Susanna. “Susanna Matheus, you are here today to face trial for your crimes of murder. Because you are female and a minor, you may choose to go back to your holding cell while we deliberate amongst ourselves so as to avoid any upsetting material that is covered. Otherwise, you will face this public trial.”

Susanna stood tall. “I am no coward. I’ll face trial.”

The minister nodded. “Very well then. First we will hear from all of our witnesses, and then we will hear from you.” She was led to a small uncomfortable wooden chair. Eriwrinkle cleared his throat. “And the Ministry now calls Jonathan Avery to speak.”

Avery made his way to the podium, and bowed his head respectfully. “Minister.”

“Please tell us where you were three months ago, on the night of September 17th, 1942.”

Avery nodded. “Of course. I was asleep, but it was simply too hot, so I went for a quick night stroll. That’s when I saw that girl, Susanna Matheus, up in the air, on a broomstick.”

The minister nodded, clearly already expecting that answer. “Are you aware that it is illegal for women to fly?” Avery nodded again. “Then why did you not report this crime?”

Avery looked ashamed. “I thought that she seemed harmless enough. I didn’t want her entire life to be destroyed because of a single night’s pleasure. Now I regret giving her that chance.” He gulped. “And then, the night Myrtle Warren died, Matheus attacked me, and accused me of murder without any reason.”

Eriwrinkle nodded. “Thank you, Mr Avery.” Once Avery was back in his seat, the minister looked down at the parchment in front of him. “And the Ministry now calls Sirius Lestrange to speak.”

Sirius took Avery’s place at the podium. He adamantly refused to meet Tom’s eyes when he passed by the older boy. “Minister.”

“Please tell us what you saw on the afternoon of October 2nd, 1942.”

Sirius bit his lip, and his shoulders slumped down. “I happened upon the sight of Susanna Matheus performing some kind of blood related ritual. I didn’t stick around, but everyone knows that the majority of spells requiring blood are forbidden to be used without explicit permission first.”

One of the other officials tilted his head. “And why did you not report this?”

Sirius sighed. “Because she was in there with my best friend. Tom Riddle. I didn’t want him to get in trouble if it turned out that I was just overreacting.”

The same official frowned. “And you didn’t confront him about this later, despite you declaring him to be your ‘best friend’?”

Sirius shrugged. “Best friends have to know when to give each other a little space sometimes. When to trust each other.”

Eriwrinkle nodded. “Thank you, Mr Lestrange.”

As the trial progressed, more students were called up. Some said that Susanna was just a nice, quiet kid. Others pointed out how everyone knew that Myrtle Warren was Susanna’s best friend. Madam Robbins said that she knew without a doubt that Susanna was innocent. Professor Dumbledore went up to say that there was no way Susanna could’ve known the password to get into Armando Dippet’s office.

After a while, a break was called for. Susanna bit her lip and closed her eyes as they left the room, and were surrounded by people calling for her to be executed or thrown into Azkaban. She wished that she could just run over to Henry and throw her arms around him. He had always looked out for her, but there was nothing he could do here.

There was nothing Susanna would want him to do. She had to take the fall for this. If she didn’t, then Tom would. Someone in the crowd was managing to shout louder than the others. “You’re evil! You evil bitch! You murdered my daughter! You murdered my daughter!”

Susanna just kept walking. There was nothing she could say to comfort the woman anyways. She would almost prefer to just be thrown into Azkaban right now, instead of having to listen to all of these people who despise her. And she knew that there hadn’t been enough votes of support in there to get her off. While she didn’t want to be set free, it was also depressing that so few people had good things to say about her.

She couldn’t continue thinking about it, though, because someone suddenly darted right in front of her. “Tom?” She breathed out softly.

He gave her a confident grin. “Henry and I have been doing research we found something. Something that can help you. All you have to do is take back your confession.”

Susanna shook her head. “I can’t do that, Tom.” They didn’t have much time. The official who had been leading her was pushing his way back through the crowd now that he’d realized she’d stopped following him. 

“I know why you think you can’t, but I swear it’s going to be okay.”

Susanna frowned. “No, you don’t understand. I can’t get off for this Tom. I can’t.”

The official reached her, and grabbed her arm tightly. “I know that you’re just trying to protect me!”

Susanna shook her head again as she was practically dragged away. “That’s not the whole story, you idiot! When is it ever that easy?” And then the official pulled her into one of the Ministry cars that were waiting. She could barely see Tom now through the crowd, but she had to make him understand that what she was doing was for the best. “There’s more to it, so just give up already!” And then the door was being slammed behind her before she could hear if Tom said anything in response.

Susanna turned to the person who had already been waiting in the backseat. He pulled back his hood, and gave Susanna a small smile. “You know, this would all be so much easier if we just went with the faking your death plan. You wouldn’t be the first to do so. Why put yourself through all of this trouble? Is it really just over a guy?”

Susanna turned to stare out the window. “I don’t want to talk about it. We’re doing this my way or not at all.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, we do it your way. But when this all blows up in your face, there will be nothing to stop me from whisking you away. I’m going to keep you safe, you should know that.”

“But then what about Mum and Dad and Henry? I can’t just leave all of them behind.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but they’re not the ones who are in immediate danger, you are. Besides, you’ve always been my favorite grandchild.”

“I’m the only grandchild you’ve got that knows you exist. If my mum knew I was in touch with you, she’d flip. I think she genuinely hates you.”

“I think so too,” he sounded remorseful at that fact. “Anyways, let’s go somewhere nice until we’ve got to be back in the courthouse. It was starting to get stuffy in there.”

Susanna shrugged. She didn’t really care where they went, so long as this day ended with her being declared guilty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is Susanna’s grandfather? Someone very mysterious. I just decided to make this happen as I was writing it, so I do apologize if not everything ends up lining up exactly with what we know from the books. Anyways, three thumbs up to everyone who’s still reading at this point (:


	23. Chapter 23

Tom’s leg was bouncing up and down, and he kept rearranging how his hands were positioned. He didn’t even realize he was doing it until Henry jabbed him in the side with his elbow. “Relax, will you? Everything is going to be fine.”

Tom sighed. “After this short intermission, Fredwin’s going to take the stand, then me, then you. I’m totally freaking out right now! And why are you still sitting with me? Shouldn’t you be going to check on your parents or something? I’m sure that they’re no better off than you are right now.”

Henry nodded, and stood up. He took the opportunity to stretch out, and his shoulder joints cracked loudly. Then he made his way across the crowded courtroom, to where his parents were sitting, both of them leaning on each other. He cleared his throat to catch their attention when it became clear that they were off in their own little world.

Tolli’s eyes widened, and then she leaned forward to pull her son into a hug. “Henry! Why aren’t you at school?”

Henry shrugged. “Everyone who was called to take the stand for the trial was given a leave of absence from Professor Greywood. He said that we probably couldn’t handle dealing with schoolwork and a murder trial at the same time. He’s probably right, especially since the one on trial is my sister.”

Jacob wrapped his wife and son into a tight hug. “It’s all going to be okay. They’re going to know immediately that there’s no way our Susanna could ever do something so horrible.”

Henry frowned. “But she’s confessed to the crime. And she’s adamant about sticking to her story. She doesn’t want to get away with anything. She wants to take the fall, so whether she did it or not doesn’t even matter.”

“We know. In the brief moment we were given to talk to her before she was being dragged off to this farce of a trial, she pretty much told us nothing other than the fact that she did it. Even though anyone with half a brain could see that she had nothing to do with anything so violent.”

Then they couldn’t talk anymore because there was a loud commotion from the hallway. Tom had the perfect view from where he was sitting to see what was going on. Lots of reporters were shouting questions, mostly insulting ones. Susanna must’ve returned from wherever she went on that break. 

Once everyone was seated, Eriwrinkle called for silence, and got it almost immediately. He cleared his throat. “The Ministry now calls Zacharius Fredwin to speak.”

Fredwin took the podium, swaying slightly where he stood. “Minister,” he slurred.

“Why did you arrest Susanna Matheus so long before she confessed to the crimes?”

Fredwin shrugged. “I didn’t coerce her, if that’s what you’re trying to get at. I just knew. I looked into her eyes and all I saw was evil. Evil, evil eyes,” he whispered. “And it had to be her.”

The minister frowned. “Do you have anything stronger to build your case than ‘it had to be her’?”

Fredwin shook his head. “Not really. I never had any doubt that she did it. She’s bad, just like her bitch of a mother.” 

The minister stood up. “Alright, that’s enough, Professor Fredwin. It will be impossible for us to take your testimony seriously when you couldn’t even be bothered to show up to this trial sober. Your statement is dismissed from the records, and you are forbidden to speak on this stand again for the duration of the trial.”

Fredwin’s face didn’t show any reaction that would prove he’d even registered what he’d just been told. “You don’t understand! That bitch tried to ruin everything! Twice!” He pointed an accusing finger at Tolli Matheus, and everyone turned to look at her. “That… that bitch tore me to shreds! And then had the audacity to give birth to a mudblood murderer!” 

There were loud gasps of outrage throughout the audience, and the minister’s eyes flared with anger. “Take this man away! Hold him in contempt of this court! I will not have this serious matter be made mockery of! The next person who comes up here to embarrass the court will find themselves thrown right into Azkaban!” 

After that, it took almost twenty minutes to get everyone to settle down again. Tom peered over at where Susanna was seated, and saw the way she was intensely watching every second of the proceedings.

When everyone was calmed, the minister returned to the trial at hand. “The Ministry now calls Thomas Riddle to speak.”

Tom nervously made his way over to the podium. He hated standing there, beneath the officials, being forced to look up at them as he was looked down upon. It was a setup designed to throw off whoever was on trial. “Minister,” he stated, glad that his voice was displaying much more calmness than he actually felt.

“We have heard many testimonies at this trial so far, Mr Riddle. We have gathered much information. So please be honest with the court when you tell us what occurred the night of September 17th, 1942.”

Tom gulped, then nodded. “I…” He glanced over at where Susanna was sitting. She refused to meet his eyes. If he tried to get her free, she’d kill him. Earlier she’d said that there was more to the story than just her protecting him. Maybe Tom needed to figure out what else was going on.

“...Mr Riddle?”

Tom blinked a few times, and realized that he’d been silent for an awkwardly long amount of time. “Uh, sorry. But Minister, like you said, you’ve already heard a lot. And you’ve probably already made up your minds. So who the bloody hell cares what happened September 17th? It’s not going to change anything.” He looked over at Susanna again, and knew what he had to do. There would be no time for him to figure out whatever piece of the story he was missing. So all he could do was give Susanna one last thing. He refused to look away from Susanna as he spoke, wanting to silently communicate with her that he was sorry. “It’s not going to change the fact that you should lock Susanna Matheus up in Azkaban for the rest of her life. It’s where murderers belong.” He squeezed his eyes shut, and gripped the edge of the podium so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

“Thank you, Mr Riddle.” Tom kept his gaze on the floor until he’d made his way back to his seat. He finally worked up the courage to look at Susanna, and this time, she met his eyes. She gave the briefest nod, meant to do nothing more than indicate she was pleased with his testimony.

From a few rows away, he could feel the approval radiating off of Avery, Sirius, and the others. But from across the room, he could see Tolli, Jacob, and Henry. All of them glaring at him. Henry was giving him a look of betrayal, and Tom hated the way that he actually felt bad.

He got up and slipped out of the courtroom before Henry could be called up. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what Susanna’s brother had to say. Henry was probably going to hate Tom forever after this, but Susanna wasn’t, and that was what mattered most.

Out in the hall, Tom paused when he saw someone leaning up against the wall opposite the courtroom door. He was wearing a robe with a hood that covered most of his face. Though Tom could see a ringlet of golden blonde hair, and a strange grin on the man’s face. “So you’re the boy worth the big fuss, huh?” He spoke with a thick German accent.

Tom frowned. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I know you. Well, I might know you, but I wouldn’t be able to tell while you’re wearing that hood.”

The man chuckled. “I’m no one of importance. Not to you anyways. So how’re things going in there, anyways?”

Tom couldn’t help the automatic response he had, which was to slowly reach for the pocket with his wand in it. He was getting pretty weird vibes off the guy. “If you’re so interested, why don’t you just go in and find out for yourself?”

The stranger shrugged. “Where would be any of the fun in that? Besides, you intrigue me. I’m curious about what’s got my granddaughter so infatuated with you.”

Tom narrowed his eyes. “Whoever you are, just leave me alone. I’m going, and if you follow me, I’m going to be pissed.” He tried to stomp away, but the man was fast, and he quickly darted forward and grabbed Tom by the arm. Tom started struggling right away. “Hey! Let go of me! Let go!”

“I don’t want her going to prison anymore than you do, Mr Riddle. And frankly, if it were up to me, I’d just let you take the blame, and let Susanna get away with no harm done. But she apparently cares about you too much. I don’t know why, seeing how you just totally screwed her over in there,” he hissed. “You’ve already done enough damage. Now just stay out of the way and let me figure out how to fix everything.”

Tom suddenly stopped struggling, so that he could reach up and shove the hood off of the man’s head. His eyes widened, and he let out a shocked little gasp. More golden curls fell around the man’s shoulders, and his deep blue eyes were glittering fiercely. Tom recognized the man squeezing his arm. Any sane wizard would. 

He became even more frantic in his attempts to get away. “Let go of me! Let go!”

The man rolled his eyes. “The great Tom Riddle my granddaughter is always gushing over is just a scaredy cat?”

“Let go of me right now! If I shout for help then you’ll be the one getting locked up!”

Tom’s captor rolled his eyes, almost looking bored. “As if those pitiful excuses for wizards in there would actually have any chance of catching me, even if I stood right here and politely waited for them.”

Since getting away by force was clearly out of the option, Tom took a few deep breaths to keep his voice from shaking. “What do you want with me? Why are you even here? Everyone thinks you’re in Germany.”

That was met with a grin. “Well, what better place is there to be when everyone thinks you’re in Germany than in not-Germany? No one would think to look for me here. I’m surprised by your reaction to me, if I’m being honest. I never thought that they allowed my infamy to infect Scotland.”

Tom’s hand darted into his pocket while the man was talking, but he wasn’t an idiot. He grabbed Tom’s wand arm, and yanked it out of his pocket, sending the wand skittering across the floor, too far away to be of any use at the moment. Tom grimaced. “Either let me go or tell me what the hell you want from me.”

The man pulled Tom closer so that their noses were only inches apart. “I think I’ve already told you, dipshit. I don’t want my granddaughter going to jail.”

Tom frowned, feeling more confused than ever. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The man sighed, and spoke slowly, like he was trying to explain something to a young child. “You see, when a man and a woman hate each other very much, a child can be born. And then the child can grow up and have a child of her own, which would result in the original man, me, having a granddaughter.”

Tom shook his head uncertainly. “You’re lying. There’s no way that you’re Susanna’s granddaughter. Her parents are both muggles.”

The man frowned, looking like he was starting to get annoyed by Tom’s lack of knowledge. “One of her parents is a muggle, sure. The other is a squib. My daughter. Thought she did make it her goal to get away from me the moment she was old enough to understand who I am. I can assure you that it honestly surprised me when little Susanna tracked me down a few years back. She couldn’t cope with her sister’s death, and because she blamed herself, she couldn’t talk to her parents or brother because she was sure that they blamed her as well. She cleverly found me, and while she was surprised to discover just who her grandfather is, she was very open-minded. And now she’s going to get thrown into jail, where she’ll never survive, unless you let me do something about it.”

Tom shook his head. “Even if that is true, which I really doubt, Susanna wouldn’t want you to interfere anymore than she wants me to interfere. She’s determined to take the fall for this. I only helped her get what she wants.”

Tom found himself being slammed back against the wall, and he felt a bit dazed from where his head cracked against the solid surface. “I know what I’m doing. I’m doing what Susanna needs me to do. She’s only being so stubborn because she’s worried about what’s going to happen to you. But the only thing you’ve got to fear is me. If you keep interfering, you’re not going to be even the tiniest bit scared of some murderer from your school. Now be good and do what you’re told for once in your life. Run along, and don’t give me any more temptation to kill you than I’m already feeling.” He shoved Tom aside. “I honestly don’t see how Susanna even puts up with you at all, let alone her having a crush on you.”

Tom couldn’t help looking surprised by that information. So he decided to shock his opponent right back. “Even if Susanna’s mother is just a squib, Susanna’s birth father isn’t a muggle. He’s a wizard, and he never got married to Susanna’s mum. Her and Henry both share the same wizard father.”

The man scowled. “Give me the name of the man who has abandoned my child and grandchildren, and I’ll kill him.”

As much as Tom may have hated Professor Fredwin, he didn’t really think that the man deserved to be murdered by such a dangerous criminal. So Tom shook his head. “Sorry, but I can’t tell you that. Susanna doesn’t even know that he’s her real birth father.”

The man shrugged. “Very well. I’m sure I’ll find out on my own sooner or later, anyways. So for now, I take my leave. Remember what I said. Don’t get yourself involved.” He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Tom, who let out a rather unmanly screech. “But you deserve your just punishment for trying to sentence her to a life in jail.” His wand shot out a burst of light that threw Tom back into the wall behind him with a loud shout.

People hurried out into the hallway a moment later, and Tom stood, rubbing the back of his tender head with a groan. Then he pushed his way through the crowd, and into the courtroom, where everyone was trying to figure out the source of the shouting. Eriwrinkle looked down at Tom with concern. “What happened to you?”

And because Tom felt afraid in a way he hadn’t in a very long time, he couldn’t feel bad about giving up the infamous man who’d threatened his life. “Gellert Grindelwald happened to me, minister.” There was an immediate uproar from the crowd, but Tom ignored that, seeking only Susanna’s gaze. And from the look he saw in Susanna’s eyes, Tom knew that everything Grindelwald had said was the truth.


	24. Chapter 24

Tom felt like he had been thoroughly interrogated, despite the fact that he clearly wasn’t the criminal of the situation. Everyone just seemed so sure that Grindelwald must be in Germany. But when he showed off his bruises, and described as much of the encounter as he could without throwing Susanna under the bus, they finally seemed to believe him.

And now everyone was gathered back in the courtroom, ready for the trial to continue. It was ridiculous that they were going to continue on with an event that clearly attracted the interest of one of the most evil people in the world. 

“The Ministry now calls Henry Matheus to the stand.”

Henry made his way over to the podium, and when his eyes connected with Tom’s for a moment, he shot the Slytherin an angry glare. He couldn’t see it. None of them could. But Tom was only doing what Susanna wanted. “Minister,”

Eriwrinkle nodded slowly. “Now Henry, I do understand what a difficult position you must find yourself in at this time. Your sister is on trial, being accused of murder. For you to honor your family you must defend her, and yet to serve justice, you must tell the truth. So tell me the truth now, Henry. Do you believe that Susanna killed Armando Dippet and Myrtle Warren?”

Henry immediately shook his head, not even having to think about it. “Of course not. She’s one of the sweetest people I know. She would never hurt anybody, let alone her best friend in the whole world. Please, minister. I know that this is all just a mistake. She didn’t do it.”

The minister frowned. “Thank you, Mr Matheus. That is all.”

Henry stared up in disbelief. “What? A girl’s entire life is on the line and you’re barely going to give me thirty seconds to prove her innocent? What is wrong with you? Susanna didn’t do this!”

Eriwrinkle stared at Henry with half open eyes, almost as though he were bored. “That will be all, Mr Matheus, if you don’t want to be dragged out of the room. There’s no need to make a nuisance of yourself.”

Henry scowled and clenched his hands into fists, but he did stomp back to where his parents were seated. The Ministry all whispered amongst themselves, and scribbled some things down on their pads of paper. Then the minister turned his gaze on Susanna, and the room was so silent that one could’ve heard a needle dropped to the floor.

“The Ministry now calls the accused- Susanna Matheus- to the stand.”

Susanna was led over to the podium by a guard, and she held her head high the entire time. Once her handcuffs were unlocked and looped around the ring attached to the podium, the guard went back to his seat. Susanna stared up at the Ministry politely, as though she’d bumped into an old friend in the grocery store. “Minister,”

Eriwrinkle let out a long sigh. “Susanna Matheus, you have heard the testimonies of many people, and most swore to this court that they were telling the truth when they claimed you were not a murderer. But they are not the ones who has a stake in what happens next. So tell me know what the truth is, and I will make sure that you leave here in the best way possible. With your dignity.”

Susanna jutted out her chin, though she didn’t lean back to look up at the Ministry. She wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. “Minister, I’m going to be honest with you here,” a deranged sort of grin flopped over the bottom half of her face. Tom couldn’t see her eyes well enough to know whether the expression was real or not. “I killed both of them.” There was a shocked pause in the proceedings. While she had already signed several statements claiming her guilt, and there were several people present who did wish to see her put away, somehow no one thought that she’d actually confess while on the stand. Everyone who had vouched for her suddenly felt pretty stupid.

The minister looked at Susanna with one eyebrow raised. “After so many people have said that you must be innocent, you’re telling me that you did commit these vile acts that you are accused of?”

Susanna shrugged, looking like she couldn’t care less about what was going on, even as it directly affected her entire future. Then she stretched her handcuff chains as far as they would go so that she could reach into the inner pocket of her robes. She pulled out a wand, and there were instantly officials jumping to their feet, their own wands raised and pointed towards the Ravenclaw. 

She craned her head back, just for a moment, and her eyes found Tom’s. To his surprise, she looked like she was full of guilt. Then she turned back to face the Ministry, and she flicked her wrist, sending the wand rolling across the floor in front of her. “I thought you guys might want that since you forgot to take it in the first place.”

The officials didn’t back down. They all looked so tense, like they would shatter into pieces if they were to topple over and hit the ground. Eriwrinkle rubbed his head tiredly. “You are making a mockery of this court.”

Susanna seemed to deflate all of a sudden, and she frowned. “I did it. Those lives are on me. Don’t you at least want to know why?”

The minister nodded at the officials, and they let themselves relax, though none of them actually put their wands away. “Very well. Explain to everyone why you would kill your ‘very best friend’ and your headmaster.”

Susanna took in a deep breath, then reached down to yank up the bottom of her shirt. She pulled it up enough for everyone to clearly see the jagged words permanently etched into her skin. “You want to know what happened September 17th? This is what happened. I was attacked, entirely unprovoked. Despite their clumsy attempts to mask themselves, I easily figured out their identities. I wanted revenge-”

One of the officials chuckled. “And you think that the headmaster was one of your attackers?”

Susanna shot the man a glare, then turned back to focus on the minister. Her words tumbled out quickly, like if they didn’t get out in time they’d never get out. “There was no proof that I could use against them, and I didn’t think that there was anyway for me to get back at them without being caught. Until I overheard them discussing something called the Chamber of Secrets. And the monster that lived inside. So I became close friends with someone who had the ability to unlock the chamber, and I recorded many different samples of his voice. I opened the chamber and found the monster within.” She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. “The day that Myrtle died, I thought- I could’ve sworn that it was Jonathan Avery, the leader of my attackers. It wasn’t,” her voice cracked with emotion. “It was Myrtle. And she was dead.” Her eyes were red, and her voice sounded truly guilty.

Tom realized that he had no idea whether or not Susanna was telling the truth. If she was, then she somehow never thought to confide in her own brother that she was the killer. And if she wasn’t, then she was one of the best damn actors Tom had ever seen.

Eriwrinkle frowned. “So you’re saying that it was an accident? Then what happened with the headmaster. Don’t tell me that you accidentally killed him as well.”

Susanna shook her head. “It wasn’t an accident. I was planning on killing someone either way. And as for Dippet, he knew. He was going to turn me in, and my life was going to be over. So I used the creature to kill him as well.”

“The creature that you found in the Chamber of Secrets? The secret hiding place of Salazar Slytherin?”

Susanna sniffed, then nodded. “Yes.”

Tom’s eyes widened. The only way to open the Chamber was using parseltongue. But he’d never spoken the words of the snakes in front of Susanna, so she couldn’t have ever recorded it. Which meant that she couldn’t have broken in. Maybe she only knew about the Chamber and the monster because of the old stories. Or maybe there was some other explanation. She was a Ravenclaw; she was probably an expert at finding the information. 

The Ministry men all bent their heads together to whisper, and point out the things they’d made note of. Finally, they turned to look at Susanna, and Eriwrinkle stood up. “Susanna Matheus. You’ve confessed to two murders, both made with planning and sanity. You knew exactly what you were doing. If you believed you knew the identities of any of your attackers, you should’ve reported it immediately, rather than waiting to get your own vengeance.” He raised the gavel in his hands. “Susanna Matheus, on the charges of both murders, you are declared guilty of all charges. You shall be sentenced to fifty years in a private cell in Azkaban.” He banged the little hammer down, his sentence final.

The officials started to move towards Susanna, to bring her back to her temporary cell until they were ready to transport her to Azkaban. Before anyone could do anything, though, the doors to the room burst open, flying all the way off their hinges. In stormed a familiar face.

Everyone was either pulling out their wands, or ducking for cover. Eriwrinkle remained calmly standing where he was, though he did raise his wand as well. It’s not like he was suicidal.

All of the attention in the room was on the newcomer, but he barely even seemed to notice. His eyes scanned the crowded audience quickly, and he took a few steps towards one side of the room. He walked slowly, with his arms held out, like he was afraid of spooking away the one that he was looking at. “Tolli.”

Susanna’s mother averted her eyes, but that didn’t stop the evil man from walking over to where she was sitting. “Tolli, come with us.” He turned his attention to Jacob. “And you… what kind of man doesn’t even notice that the children he raised aren’t his own?”

Jacob frowned, and blurted out, “What are you talking about?” before remembering who he was talking to. He slapped one hand over his own mouth, and glared.

While the officials were all distracted by the dark wizard in their midst, Susanna was able to look over at him and smile sadly. “Grandfather!”

Grindelwald turned, and fired off a quick spell that opened the handcuffs. Once her hands were free, she grabbed her wand off the floor, then walked over to her grandfather. Tolli looked horrified. “Susanna? How do you know this man?”

Susanna shrugged. “He’s Henry and my grandfather. Your father. But you ran away from him.”

Henry and Jacob made almost matching horrified squeaking noises. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Our grandfather can’t be… him.”

Susanna looked up at her brother fondly. “Henry, it’s true. I found him a while ago. I never told you because I didn’t know how you’d react.” Then she looked at Grindelwald, slightly confused. “But what did you mean about Dad?”

The dark lord sighed. “He isn’t-” A burst of light was shot toward him, and he disappeared. He reappeared a moment later behind the one who’d fired off the spell, and shot him with the killing curse a few times. 

Henry leaned forward to grab Susanna by the collar of her shirt, and tugged her up. He spoke in an angry whisper. “What the bloody hell is going on? Are you not seeing him kill someone? He’s not the type of person we need or want to be our grandfather. He’s evil.”

Susanna shook her head. “He isn’t, though. He was only persecuted and called evil because he was a lot more powerful than anyone else, and they were jealous and afraid without him ever even hurting anyone. That stuff only came later, when he had no other choice anymore.”

“So you admit that he has done evil things! How can you stand to even look at him?”

Susanna frowned. “Sometimes we don’t have any better choices in our lives. I’m just grateful that he agreed to help me out when I let him know about my current predicament.”

Henry put his hands on his hips. “Why would you have a prefect lie to everyone just so that you could go to jail? It doesn’t make any sense.” 

Susanna looked a bit frustrated that Henry wasn’t just easily going along with what she was telling him. “I need to get into Azkaban.” Henry raised one eyebrow, silently asking for further clarification. “There’s someone there that I need to talk to. And then we’ll destroy it.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “You’re going to destroy one of the few prisons in the world that are actually able to contain dangerous witches and wizards? Why the hell would you ever think that that sounds like a good idea?”

A moment later, the room was silent, and Henry looked up. He thought that he was being too loud, but then he realized that every single other person in the room was completely stupefied. Including his parents. He looked up at the dark lord, a look of terror on his face.

Grindelwald walked over to his grandkids, and gave them a friendly smile. “Alright, let’s bounce from this joint.”

Susanna furrowed her eyebrows. “What? But I’m so close to going to Azkaban, and I-”

He shook his head. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I decided that the whole thing is just far too dangerous. Whoever goes into that place will never come out the same. I can’t let you go through all of that mental trauma just to talk to someone and-”

Susanna crossed her arms over her chest. “If I run, then I’ll never be able to show my face in public.”

Grindelwald smiled. “That’s not true. You’d just never be able to show your face in the wizarding world again. I can find a place among the muggles for you to lay low for a while. Or I could teach you how to get better at using glamours, or-”

Susanna shook her head. “No. What was the point of any of this if I’m just going to make a run for it? I’d have totally slandered my name and confessed to murders I didn’t do for no reason. Where’s the justice in that?”

Grindelwald sighed. “Alright, point out the actual killer, and I’ll get rid of him right now.”

Henry grabbed his sister by the arm. “Susanna! No, you can’t! You’re not a killer! You’re not going to Azkaban, and you’re not going to kill Avery! We’re going to figure this out!”

Susanna looked at her brother curiously. “Do you know anything about the heirs of the houses? Well, I do. Tom is the heir of Slytherin. And I’m the heir of Ravenclaw. And there’s things that I need to do because of it. But more than that, I have a duty to this family.”

“Please, we’ll figure this out together,” Henry whispered.

Grindelwald was starting to look annoyed. “So then neither of you are coming with me? Fine, I get it. You’ve always been just as stubborn as your mother. Though I’m afraid I’ll never know what traits you got from your father.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid. “This will only help you keep your sanity for so long. If you drink it now, before everyone wakes up, the effects should last for three months. I’m breaking you out at the end of those three months, no matter what. Do you understand?”

Susanna nodded. “Thank you, Grandfather. You are too kind to me.”

Henry slapped Susanna across the cheek, snapping her head back. “Are you out of your mind? Are you even listening to yourself? What could possibly be so important that it’s worth all of this?”

Susanna reached up to rub against her reddening cheek. “It just so happens that it’s none of your business.” She shot a stupify at her brother before he had a chance to react. Then she pulled Grindelwald into a hug. “Stay safe?”

“I should be saying that to you,” he chuckled. Susanna walked back over to the podium, and slipped back into the cuffs. Then Grindelwald stupefied her, and disapparated away. And the shit show was only just beginning.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- I felt sorry for my sister because she came home from school with a black eye (someone opened a door while she was on the other side) so there’s a moment here that’s just for her.

Tom blinked, and there were people screaming, and scrambling around, trying to protect themselves. Though a quick look around showed there to be no dark lord in attendance. At least not anymore. Tom stood, and almost stepped on his wand. He would’ve remembered dropping that. But everyone else was acting the same as they had a moment ago. 

He looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that several minutes had passed without anyone noticing. Somehow, Grindelwald had frozen everyone in the room while time kept moving. Susanna was standing at the podium still, fidgeting around nervously. She looked around, but since no one was paying attention to her, they didn’t notice her toss away her wand. Again.

As soon as the officials calmed everyone down, and turned back to her, she slumped forward, and adopted an expression of boredom. Talented actress indeed. Erwrinkle walked over to Susanna. “Are you in league with the dark lord Grindelwald?”

Susanna shrugged. “Sorry, I’m a mudblood. I have trouble remembering who all these famous wizarding people are sometimes. Was he the one that was always getting caught wearing lace knickers?” Her voice came out innocent enough, like she was simply asking about the weather.

The minister scowled. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Susanna smiled politely. “Well, if you mean to ask whether there’s any connections between us, then I feel fine admitting that he’s my grandfather. My mum left him when she was a lot younger because she didn’t approve of his parenting methods or something. She’s a squib, in case you didn’t get that. And neither her, my father, or my brother had any idea that I’d decided to track him down.”

The minister sighed, and shook his head. “You’ve practically signed your own death warrant. Azkaban is not kind to anyone. The dementors hold no distinction between prisoners. Why would you bring this upon yourself?”

Susanna smirked. “Aw, are you worried about me? That’s so sweet. If you really want to protect me, why don’t you just come and visit me in my cell?” 

Eriwrinkle shook his head sadly, and motioned for the guards who were standing around the room to come forward. “Escort Ms Matheus to Azkaban immediately.” He spotted the wand on the floor, and he picked it up. “You won’t be needing this where you’re going.”

The Ravenclaw raised one eyebrow. “What about for when I get out?”

“You can get a new one in fifty years.” He put the wand down on top of the podium and pointed his own wand at it. A moment later, it was on fire, and after just a few seconds, the wand was nothing more than a pile of ashes on the podium. Susanna bared her teeth, and it was unclear whether she was grinning or growling.

The guards unlocked the cuffs, and waited for her to move, but she just crossed her arms over her chest and stayed where she was. The guards grabbed her arms and she still didn’t move, so they had to actually drag her away, her heels sliding across the floor.

Just when her standing still had gotten eerie, she began flailing around and struggling in the arms of the guards. She screamed unintelligible words, and everyone could hear the echoes all down the hallway, until they were suddenly cut off.

Everyone in the room shifted around uncomfortably where they were sitting. Tom got up and stormed out. He went to the atrium, where all the students were supposed to go so they could be brought back to Hogwarts together. Tom didn’t feel like waiting around, but he didn’t want to start any trouble in the Ministry of all places. So he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, hoping that he was giving off a vibe that would encourage people to avoid him. He wasn’t in the mood to be talking to anyone. 

Once all the students were there, some who hadn’t even gotten permission to be at the Ministry in the first place. As a group, they were transported back to the school, just outside the front entrance. While everyone else headed inside, Tom walked around instead, towards the base of the quidditch bleachers.

That was where he’d first met Susanna. It wasn’t even that long ago, but he couldn’t help thinking that he was an entirely different person back then. He hadn’t even cared about her at all then. And he almost wished that he could go back to that time. It would be nice to not have to care right now. 

When it started to get dark, he finally headed back inside. It didn’t matter that he’d missed the whole day because all the kids who were asked to attend the trial were given the day off, no questions asked. Some people who didn’t even know Susanna signed their names on the witness list just to get out of their classes.

Tom headed to the Slytherin dorms, and saw that there was no one else in the common room when he got there. He didn’t care either way. He started for the year five boys dorm room, but found that the way was blocked by a rather smug looking Avery. “That was wild today. I was glad to see that you’d finally come to your senses. I was starting to fear that you never would.”

Tom frowned. “Right. Whatever. I’m tired. I’m going to bed, Avery, if you don’t mind.”

The younger boy stepped aside, an ambiguous expression on his face. “Sure, Riddle. We’ll be seeing you in the morning at breakfast, right? Because I’d be rather disappointed if I had to miss you.”

Avery started to walk away, but Tom shook his head. “Wait,” and as soon as Avery turned around to see what Tom wanted, Tom jumped forward and socked Avery right in the face. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.”

Avery staggered back a few steps, and brought one hand up to press against his eye. “You’re going to regret that,” he hissed.

Tom shrugged. “You going to hide behind the monster again, or are you going to kill me face to face?” When Avery didn’t respond, he rolled his eyes. “And if you could let me know when you plan on coming after me, that would be really nice, because I do have plans.”

Avery scowled. “I thought that there was still a chance for you to redeem yourself. Apparently I was wrong. We were all wrong to follow you anywhere.”

There was a pang of guilt in Tom’s chest at the thought of everything that had been done in his name. So he nodded with determination. “Yes, it was wrong. I should’ve never put those stupid ideas into your heads. I should’ve been a better person. But I wasn’t. And all I can do now is hope that you’ll make the right decision.”

Avery raised one eyebrow, then immediately winced, as it was the eye he’d just been punched in. “And what is the right decision?”

“To turn yourself in.”

Even though he’d spoken in all seriousness, Avery began laughing. “That’s a good one, Riddle. I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Or wait, maybe I won’t. Why would I confess to something that I didn’t do. Everyone saw that pyschopath today. She got what she deserves, which is to be locked away so that the rest of us don’t have to suffer.”

Tom grabbed Avery’s tie and yanked him closer, so that when he spoke, Avery could feel his breath on his face. “How did you convince Susanna to take the fall? Threatening to accuse me doesn’t seem like enough.”

Avery tried to pull himself away. “I didn’t do anything. That mudblood bitch decided all on her own that she was going to admit to her crime. Maybe I was going to give her some incentive in the form of sullying your name, but she stepped forward with barely two words out of my mouth. She was eager to confess.” Tom shoved the younger boy back, not caring when Avery’s head hit the wall pretty hard. While he was pissed, he could tell that Avery was telling the truth. 

When Avery tried to step forward, Tom shoved him back into the wall. Then he headed into the dorms. His bed curtains were enclosed completely around his bed, which was odd. Tom couldn’t remember ever pulling the curtains closed. In the past if he’d wanted privacy, he simply had to glare at the others until they got the message and left.

Tom drew back the curtain, and furrowed his eyebrows when he spotted the letter leaning up against his pillow. He reached forward to grab it, and saw that it wasn’t secured shut with a seal. He pulled back the flap, and reached in to pull out the piece of folded parchment that was inside. 

He glanced around, but the other boys were already asleep, so he went back out into the common room. He unfolded the parchment, and his eyes quickly scanned over the letter, which was dated from just over a week ago. 

_Tom- I hope that this gets to you after the trial. I paid one of your house mates pretty well to place this on your bed if I’m declared guilty in a court of law. I hope that that is the outcome. I know that you and Henry were looking forward to getting me freed, but I’ve realized that this is actually rather an opportunity for me. We’ve already established that you’re the heir of Slytherin, and I’m the heir of Ravenclaw. So I had decided to do more research into the heir stuff. I don’t want to get into too much detail here in case someone else reads this before you. But I think that there is an heir of each founder, but it isn’t simply determined by having the founder as an ancestor. Otherwise Henry would also be the heir of Ravenclaw. Anyways, I think you should look up a man named Emery Watson. He was thrown into Azkaban thirty years ago for robbing several highly secured Gringott’s vaults, and killing several goblins in the process. I think that he might just be the heir of Gryffindor. And that got me to thinking. What’s the point of the heirs? So what would happen if you gathered them all in one place? Be sure to visit me, Tom. From Susanna._

Tom stared at the letter with shock. That’s why Susanna had gotten herself thrown into prison? To talk to some robber and murderer who had probably already gone completely insane from being around the dementors for so long? That was the stupidest thing that Tom had ever heard. And he’d heard a lot of stupid things before. 

He read it through a few more times before tossing it into the fire, so that no one else would be able to ever read it. Then his instincts urged him to duck, so he did. He spun around and saw that Avery was standing in the entrance to the common room. He was clutching his wand in one hand, and his other hand was wrapped tightly around Nagini, who was wriggling in an attempt to get away from him. 

Tom started to take a step forward, but Avery turned the wand so it was pointed at Nagini’s head. “I wouldn’t move if I were you.” 

Tom held his hands up in a way that he hoped would be enough to calm down the other boy. “What are you doing, Jon?” He hoped that calling the boy by his first name would bring him back to reality, and remind him that he existed before Tom had become a part of his life. 

Avery didn’t seem to appreciate that though. “You’re too afraid to call me by my surname, Riddle? You think that it’ll give you more power over me to call me what my parents call me?” He snorted, like there was some joke in that that only he understood. “I’ve never seen you look this scared before, Tom.” he shook the hand that was holding the snake. “If I killed her right now, would you cry?”

Tom narrowed his eyes. “If you harm her even the littlest bit, I will end you.” He kept his voice calm, knew that that had always scared the boys more than yelling. When he was calm, they had no idea what to expect from him. But right now Tom was pissed off, and he loved Nagini. So if anything happened to her, then he didn’t know how he’d react.

Avery chuckled. “Crucio.” The snake floated up in the air, where she began writhing around and hissing loudly. Tom charged at Avery, and tackled the boy right to the ground. He grabbed a fistful of Avery’s hair and yanked his head up at an uncomfortable angle, then slammed it down into the floor. Avery just laughed some more. “Sure, keep going Tom! We both know that this is in your blood! You’re one of us!” Tom picked Avery’s head up to slam it down again.

Then he jumped to his feet and stupefied Avery, which ended Nagini’s curse. Tom caught her as she fell, and let her hang off his his shoulders. She hung her head by his ear, and sounded tired when she spoke. **“Hurtsss.”**

Tom stroked the top of her head in a comforting manner. **“Shh, shh, it’s alright. You’re safe now. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I promise.”**

All of the commotion had woken up some of the Slytherins in the closest dorms, and they all pushed into the common room to see what was going on. Vanessa Guard squeezed through the crowd so that she could get a better view, and she gasped when she saw what was going on. “Tom Riddle!” 

He looked over at her. “What do you want?”

No one else seemed willing to say anything to him, so she straightened her back, and took it upon herself to chastise Tom. “You are a prefect! You’re supposed to be setting an example for the younger kids, not starting fights! You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Tom blinked a few times, like he was trying to process Vanessa’s words, and then his shoulders slumped down. “Yeah, you’re absolutely right. I have no idea what I was thinking.” He looked to the younger students with an apology on his lips, but he paused when he spotted Sirius.

Sirius didn’t have to push his way through the crowd, because the others made way for him to pass without him even having to say a single word. “Tom.” He grabbed Tom by the elbow, and pulled him out of the common room, into the corridor where there wasn’t anyone to eavesdrop. “What’s going on? You can’t be mad that Susanna was convicted. You testified against her!”

Tom shook his head. “What? No, this had nothing to do with her.” Though he probably wouldn’t have been feeling so aggressive if he just understood what was going on for once. “Avery crucioed Nagini. I had to protect her.”

Sirius smiled. “It’s nice to have something resembling the old Tom back. I was starting to get worried that I’d never see my best friend again.”

Tom shook his head again. “You’re not my friend, Sirius. I have to be better. I have to change. I’ve already started to, thanks to Susanna. I can’t be friends with someone who won’t change.”

Sirius looked at Tom searchingly for a moment. “But mudbloods are-”

“Wizards and witches just like us. Nothing more, and nothing less.”

Sirius drew his eyebrows together. “And you’re determined to not be against them anymore.”

Tom nodded. “Well, it’s not just that. But yeah, that’s definitely something important.”

Sirius shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll change with you.”

Tom looked at Sirius in surprise. “What?”

Sirius sighed. “We’re best friends, remember? We have to stick by each other. So. This is me sticking by you.” He held out his hand. “Are we still friends or what?”

Tom frowned. “They’re all going to hate you as much as they hate me.”

Sirius looked confused by that. “None of them hate you. They just want you to go back to leading them so that they aren’t running around like a bunch of headless chickens. They don’t hate you, though. And they won’t hate me. And eventually, maybe they’ll change too,” he shrugged. “Or maybe they won’t. It doesn’t really matter.”

Tom nodded. “Friends, then.” And they both stood out there in the corridor for a while longer, neither of them particularly looking forward to going back inside and facing the music. But at least Tom wasn’t entirely alone anymore. He had an ally. No, he had a friend. And Sirius grinned when Tom wasn’t looking. Tom had never actually called him a friend before. It felt pretty good.


	26. Chapter 26

Tom stared at the owl in front of him, trying to intimidate it with his looks. “Do you or do you not know how to get into Azkaban and deliver letters there? This isn’t exactly something they’ll tell us about and I don’t want to risk asking any professors. They’ll accuse me of murder next thing you know.” The bird didn’t say anything in response. “Fine, that’s fine. I can handle this. Just please try and take this letter to Susanna, okay? She’s in Azkaban and is probably already half out of her mind, but it’s worth a shot at least, isn’t it?” He held up a treat along with the letter, and the owl accepted both before flying away. 

As Tom headed back to the dungeons, Sirius ran up to him. “Hey! Where’ve you been? We’re supposed to go to that important meeting, remember?”

“Shoot, right, that’s today. Come on. We can still make it, right?” They hurried down the halls until they reached the Great Hall. They went inside, relieved to see that there were still plenty of others who were late to the meeting. They sat down at the Slytherin table, and some of the Slytherins who were already there very obviously scooted away from the two friends. 

A few minutes later, when the room was completely full with students, Presley Greywood went up to the podium in front of the teachers’ dining table, and cleared his throat. “As most of you know by now, many tragedies have occurred within these walls recently. Your beloved friend, Myrtle Warren, is no longer with us, and her parents have requested that her funeral be open to any students who need to go. It will be held Friday at ten, and anyone who wishes to go will be excused from their classes. I don’t think I need to remind you that you may not use your magic while outside of the school, as it will be a muggle funeral. And of course, right in the wake of that tragedy, we lost our headmaster of seventy years, Armando Dippet. His funeral will be held here at the school tomorrow morning. All are encouraged to attend, to say their final goodbyes to a good man.” He cleared his throat. “And while the ministry had appointed me to be headmaster until a better fit could be found, I must now step down. I pass leadership of this school over to your professor, Albus Dumbledore.”

Greywood stepped away from the podium, and hopped down from the raised platform. He went to stand up against one of the walls at the edge of the room. Dumbledore slowly walked forward until he was the one standing behind the podium. “It is not a joyous occasion that has me standing here before you right now. What has occurred is very sad, and I understand that it may be hard for some of you to understand right now. You should know that all of your professors are willing to listen to anything you need to discuss in regards to the recent events. It is horrible what has happened. But we cannot allow these things to divide us. It is in the worst of times that we must band together in order to be the strongest we can be. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we tell you all of this. Please, the most that you could do right now is be there for one another. That is all.”

Sirius glanced at Tom. “That’s a pretty serious speech. And I can’t believe they’re making Dumbledore of all people the new headmaster. No offense to the guy, but he’s nuts. I mean, there had to be at least some better choices, right?”

Tom shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know that he’s always creeped me out, ever since the day he came to get me from the orphanage when I was eleven. I’ve done my best to avoid him whenever possible, but he just seems like he knows everything.”

Once everyone slowly began clearing out of the room, not wanting to stick around while there was such a depressing atmosphere in there. The new headmaster walked over to the Slytherin table, where Tom and Sirius were waiting for more people to leave so that the way out would be clear, and he smiled kindly at them. “Tom. If you don’t have any pressing prior engagements, I’d love to have a moment of your time to chat.”

Sirius glanced at Tom with a barely concealed grin. “I’m pretty sure your schedule is open. Have fun with your little ‘chat’.” He stood up, and slapped Tom on the back. “I’ll be in the common room.” He had an amused look on his face as he got up and filed out with the last of the stragglers. 

Dumbledore’s expression was unreadable, and even though he was smiling, Tom felt shivers running down his spine. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Perhaps we should take this conversation to my office. I’m sure that we’ll find more privacy there.”

Tom gulped. “Isn’t your office Dippet’s old office?”

The new headmaster nodded. “Yes. However I meant the office in the back of my transfiguration class. Most of Armando’s things are in his still, and I don’t wish to disturb them until his family has a chance to come and retrieve what they wish to keep.”

The two of them made their way to Dumbledore’s office, and Tom saw that it looked much more bare than the last time he’d been by there. There were a couple of boxes on the floor with things stuffed into them. Dumbledore may not have been willing to touch Dippet’s stuff in order to move into his new office, but he was obviously ready to move in the moment he thought it would be socially acceptable. 

Tom sat down in the seat across from the professor, and raised one eyebrow. “So what is it that you wished to see me about, sir?”

The older wizard waved his hand back and forth. “No need for all the ‘sir’ business now. I’m still just a professor. And the reason I wanted to talk to you is about the trial.”

“If this is because I didn’t defend Susanna-”

Dumbledore shook his head. “No, of course not. I could never fault a student for doing what they think is the right thing to do. It’s not the trial itself that I wish to discuss, but the events that occurred during. As in the event of you meeting Gellert Grindelwald. I don’t share my history with many people, but he and I used to be very close friends before he went dark. When I discovered that he was much worse than anyone could’ve believed, we had a dual. I managed to beat him, but just barely, and that’s when he fled. Wandless, friendless, and penniless. Everyone assumed he’d stay in hiding forever. No one knew that he’d had a child. Until the time of the trial, not even I was aware of that fact. And to learn that his descendants are students in this very school is rather shocking.”

Tom nodded. “I know. But if anyone thinks that Henry should be judged based on the actions of his sister and grandfather, then as a prefect, I’ll have to step in.” He tilted his head, feeling curious. “Do you know what Grindelwald’s lineage is?”

Dumbledore looked intrigued by the question. “His mother was a witch and his father a muggle. Rather like you, Tom. Why do you ask?” 

He shrugged. “No reason. I was just curious.” Tom was wondering which side of Susanna’s family was descended from Helena Ravenclaw. She had mentioned her grandmother giving her the diadem, but she wouldn’t know her grandparents on Fredwin’s side, and her grandparents on Jacob Matheus’ side wouldn’t have a magical artifact lying around that was from Ravenclaw if Susanna had Ravenclaw blood but not Jacob’s blood. That only left her grandmother on her mother’s side, which meant that whoever Grindelwald had a child with had been from the Ravenclaw line. But Grindelwald had said his daughter was a squib, which implied that the woman he’d been with was a witch, though didn’t necessarily have to mean that. Tom’s head was spinning with all the new things he’d learned lately. 

Then it occurred him that he hadn’t ever actually checked in on the bloodline spell he’d started with that drop of Susanna’s blood. Now his curiosity was nearly overflowing. Dumbledore raised one eyebrow. “I see. Well in any case, I was just wondering if Grindelwald listed any specific reason for his targeting you. Anything you could tell me would be much appreciated, and very useful.”

Tom furrowed his eyebrows, and pretended to think hard about it for a moment. Then he shook his head. “No, not that I can recall. I was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it is a bit difficult to remember, since I was so terrified out of my mind at the encounter. Why would you think he’d target me?”

“Any number of reasons. If he was angry you’d testified against his granddaughter, or wanted to meet the one his granddaughter fancied. I suppose we may never know. Just like we’ll never know why he didn’t set her free when he so obviously had the chance.” He chuckled, though there didn’t sound like there was much amusement in his voice. “It’s strange to think that just a little over a week ago, there was no one outside of a small circle within this school who knew the name Savannah Mathrews. Now her name is in everyone’s mind all over the wizarding world, not even just within Great Britain.”

Tom frowned. “Her name is Susanna Matheus.”

Dumbledore blinked a few times, then gave Tom a sheepish smile. “Oh, my mistake then. I guess this means I must’ve given all those reporters the wrong name back at the courthouse. I suppose that means your friend is safe from becoming a household name quite yet.”

Tom had no idea what Dumbledore was trying to get at. What kind of game was playing? Did he think that he could interfere in everyone’s lives just because he seemed to have fun doing it? But then again, if Tom looked past the sheepish smile, he could see a calculating look in the man’s eyes. He’d purposely given out the wrong name. But why would he do that? To protect Susanna’s identity? Or to protect her parents and brother? 

Either way, Tom didn’t feel like sitting around in confusion for much longer. “I’m sorry sir- Professor, I just remembered that I do have someplace to be after all. If this conversation is over, would you be so kind as to excuse me?”

Dumbledore nodded once. “Of course, Tom. And please, don’t forget what I said back in the Great Hall. Every staff member in the building is here to talk if you need to go over everything that’s happened. I know that it’s a lot to happen so suddenly. Don’t hesitate to come to me if you need anything, related to this situation or not. And now I’ll let you go before you get too antsy.”

While he was standing in the doorway, Tom paused and glanced back. “Professor, what about Fredwin? Is he still going to teach here after his display at the trial?”

Dumbledore shrugged. “He’s on administrative leave at the moment. We’ll have to assess everything once he feels comfortable enough to come back to this school. Though it is rather curious. Considering the fact that you were one who spoke against Ms Matheus, wouldn’t you be glad to have a teacher that shares your sentiments?”

Tom turned back towards the doorway. “I never said whether I wanted him to keep teaching here or not.” Then he left, and made his way down to the dungeons. He found the lab where he’d left his experiment what felt like ages ago, and he pulled it up. Based on everything else, he was expecting to find that he was exactly right. He picked up the vial with the blood in it, and was about to cast the spell that would reveal the results.

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled Tom, and he dropped the vial. Before he could shoot out some spell to save it, or do anything, it shattered against the ground, glass shards and splashes of the potion scattering everywhere. Tom looked up and saw Slughorn standing in the doorway. He looked away from the professor to stare down at the broken glass instead.

Slughorn frowned. “Sorry about that, Tom, I didn’t mean to startle you. I hope that that wasn’t anything too important. I’ve been trying to find you the past couple of days. You missed out on my dinner. And I noticed that Sirius Lestrange was oddly absent from it as well. I was worried about you two. Is everything alright?”

Tom was still staring down at the broken experiment, and he blinked a few times before he looked back up at Slughorn. “Huh? Oh right. We had to study together for an exam that was coming up, and we completely forget to send you a note saying that we’d be unable to attend.”

The professor nodded, accepting that excuse. “I see.” There was something close to perception on his face when he spoke again. “And if Mr Avery had not been in attendance, would your studying have been put off until some other time?”

Tom gave the professor a sharp look. He’d never thought of Slughorn as a particularly brilliant man in any way. He’d always just seemed like the type of person who tried to hang around with successful people as much as possible because he knew that that was as close as he was ever going to get to shining so brightly. Then again, if he was smart enough to know how unspectacular he was, then it was possible he could be smart enough to know other things as well. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about, Professor.”

Slughorn raised one eyebrow. “Mr Avery spoke with me in private, and he seemed certain he was the reason for your absence. He said you’d gotten into a silly spat, and that you’d surely make up with one another within a few days.” Oh, well that explained it. Slughorn hadn’t figured out shit on his own. Avery was just being as clever as always. 

Tom let out a soft sigh. “Alright, yes, Jon and me had a bit of a disagreement over something. But I’m not sure that we’ll ever be able to work through our differences.” 

Slughorn frowned. “That’s rather disappointing to hear, Mr Riddle. Does this mean you and Mr Lestrange are going to continue to avoid any event that Mr Avery is in attendance of? Because you’re all rather brilliant students, and I’d hate to lose even one of you.”

Tom shrugged. “Sorry, but this is just the way it is now. And I know you like all three of us equally, because you would never play favorites or anything, but wouldn’t you prefer to lose one student rather than two?”

The professor stood there in thought for a moment. Finally, he let out a deep breath, and bowed his head down. “You’re trying to manipulate me, aren’t you? You want me to not invite Mr Avery to the next event so that you and Mr Lestrange will be in attendance. You think that you rank higher than any of the other students in my eyes.”

Tom shrugged. “I never said anything like that. Like I said, you obviously never play favorites.” He gently nudged a large shard of glass with his foot. “But if I were to see you in your little events, I’m sure that I’d be able to find much more inspiration in order to continue writing those brilliant essays of mine. And someday when I’m rich and famous, I’d love to be able to have a specific teacher in mind when it comes to who I should be thanking.”

Slughorn nodded. “Fine. I get it. I’m holding a small brunch on Saturday morning. I haven’t sent out the invitations yet. If you and Mr Lestrange both show up, I’d be honored to have you.” He frowned. “Though I do hope that you can reconcile with Mr Avery quite soon. You make for quite the trio.” Almost as an afterthought, he waved his wand, and the broken glass and spilled potion all disappeared. “That would’ve been quite the hazard. What were you working on, anyways?”

Tom sighed, and tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “Nothing of importance. I was just trying to prove a theory to myself, but it doesn’t really matter. I’ll see you in class tomorrow, Professor.” Slughorn understood the clear dismissal, and he left the room. 

Tom dragged his feet as he returned to the Slytherin common room. He went in and was going to plop down in his usual chair, but it was already occupied by someone with a smug face that Tom was just itching to punch again. Why did everyone suddenly decide to give him such bad luck like this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Dumbledore isn’t supposed to become headmaster until 1945, but I didn’t see the point in keeping someone else as the headmaster in this story, so it’s yet another thing that I’ve messed around with. Hope it doesn’t bother anyone too much haha


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Susanna will be back now, though I do consider Tom to be the main character of this story, so if there’s more chapters focusing on him, that’s why.

Tom glared down at Avery. “Don’t you have anything better to do than make my life a living hell? Haven’t you done enough already?”

Avery shrugged, and didn’t move to get up out of Tom’s seat. “Here’s the thing, Tom. With that mudblood being a dumb enough bitch to take the blame for the murders, we can’t exactly go around doing more damage since our scapegoat is no longer in the school. But you’re a smart guy, top of your class and all that, so I’m thinking that if you tried hard enough, you could come up with a way for us to keep going without getting caught, or find someone else who could take the fall.” He shrugged. “I know you pretty well Tom, despite how much you’ve always tried to act like you aren’t human. I know that you were probably trying to think of a similar way out in order to exonerate your little girlfriend. And you and I go way back. So what do you say, pal? A little help for an old friend?”

Tom crossed his arms over his chest. “Let me figure out how to say this in a way that your tiny little brain will be able to understand. I’m not interested in helping you. Or any of the others. All the things I’ve done in the past, and all the things I’ve taught you guys to do, were wrong. I’m not proud of who I used to be. I’m ashamed at the thought of just how ignorant I was. Avery, I know that I’m not going to miraculously be able to rid my mind of the thoughts that have been plaguing me for as long as I’ve known about the magical world. I may never like mudbloods as a whole. But for that matter, I really don’t like very many purebloods either.”

Avery clenched his jaw. “Stop being so difficult, Tom. We both know that you want to come back to us. So why are you staying so stuck up on some stupid girl? She’s not even here! She’s locked away in Azkaban and she’s never getting out of there. It’s impossible.”

Tom sighed, and felt a flash of fear at the thought of never seeing Susanna again. But that wasn’t the point. “You think that this is all just about a girl? Then you know me even less than you thought. Yes, she was the one who was able to get me to open my eyes, but now that they’re open, it’s easier for me to see the world as it is. Everything that I’m doing now, I’m doing because it’s the right thing to do. You’re right, I’m probably never going to see her again. But that’s no excuse to just back down.I know what I want from life now, Jon. I know who I want to be. And there’s nothing you can do to change my mind.”

Without bothering to listen for a reply, Tom went into the seventh year boys dorm to see if Sirius would be in there. He was grateful to find his friend easily enough, lounging on his bed. Sirius peered up over the top of whatever book he was reading, and he looked at Tom curiously. “Hey so what did the geezer want with you?”

Tom sighed, and sank down onto his friend’s bed. When Sirius saw the serious look on Tom’s face, he quickly marked his place in his book and set it aside. “I didn’t know you liked reading,” Tom tried to tease. His voice fell flat though, and Sirius said nothing, just waiting for Tom to explain whatever was wrong. “I’m not sure what Dumbledore’s game is, to be honest. He purposely leaked the wrong name to the press in order to preserve Susanna’s identity. And then he asked what Grindelwald wanted with me back at the trial.” He frowned. “And then I came back here, and Avery was waiting for me in the common room. He asked for me to help him come up with a way to keep killing mudbloods even though Susanna’s already in jail.”

Sirius frowned, and carefully interjected. “Hey, don’t forget we’re supposed to be the good guys now. We can’t call them ‘mudbloods’ anymore.”

Tom furrowed his eyebrows. “I really don’t understand why you came with me so easily, and why you’re actually trying so hard to change. What could I have ever possibly done to inspire so much loyalty in you?”

The older boy leaned back against the headboard of his bed, and motioned for Tom to position himself next to him. “Admittedly, I’m not trying to change to be a better person, or to be a hero, or anything like that. But Tom, how can you not see how much trust and respect and love you’ve inspired into all of your followers? You believed in all of us more than any of our own parents bothered, and you talked about creating a better future. And even though all those boys loved you so much, somehow you chose me to be your best friend. And I’m not entirely sure what that means to you, but I know that it had to have happened for a reason. Like it or not, we’re in this together. No matter what.”

“If Susanna were to walk in that door right now and want to hang out with us because she’s my friend, what would you say?”

Sirius frowned as he paused to think for a moment. “I’d say that she’d better not interfere on guys’ night.” He grinned. “I’m not the greatest person in the world. But for her to have gotten so far under your skin, she must be a pretty cool girl. So I’d at least give her a chance. No guarantees if you go and befriend every muggle born in the school though, so don’t push your luck.”

Both of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Tom finally decided to say what was on his mind. “Knowing that I’m never going to see Susanna again scares me.”

Sirius raised one eyebrow. “Well, you can always see her again in fifty years, no problem.”

Tom shoved gently at Sirius’s shoulder. “And I’m sure she’ll still be completely sane by then, right?”

Sirius raised his other eyebrow as well. “Um, dude, you were at that trial. She already looked completely unhinged. I’m sure a few years with the dementors won’t make much of a difference there.” He rolled his eyes at Tom’s exasperated look. “I’m kidding, obviously. Well, if you’re such good buddies with the new headmaster, maybe he’ll excuse you from the school for a day so that you can go and visit her? She did say in her letter that she would want you to visit.”

Tom’s head snapped towards Sirius, his eyes wide in surprise. “You’re the one she paid to leave me the letter?”

His friend nodded. “Yup. Honestly I didn’t even need the money, considering how wealthy my family is, but she seemed desperate. And I only read it first to make sure she wasn’t leaving behind a page of insults or something. So she’s looking for a specific dude, and she wants you to visit her in jail. So why shouldn’t you? You said it yourself that Susanna is a smart girl. Multiple times, in fact. So maybe you should trust that she’s got a plan.”

Tom smiled. “Yeah, I think for once you might actually be right about something. I don’t think Susanna’s ever done something without having a reason for it. So that means that if I want to know the reason I’ll just have to go and ask her myself. Though I wonder who the Hufflepuff heir could be. And what makes her think that this Emery Watson guy has anything to do with Gryffindor?” He looked at Sirius with pleading eyes. “I know I’ve got no right to ask you this, but could you come with me to visit her?”

There was obvious hesitation in Sirius’s voice. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Even a couple days with those dementors is probably enough to drive someone crazy, and I’m not sure she’d want me to see her that way considering how little we actually know each other.” He tilted his head. “About that blood thing that I caught you guys doing… was that really about finding out her lineage?”

Tom nodded. “Yes. I don’t know the results for sure though. It all got shattered, and I don’t exactly have samples of her blood just lying around to work with. But according to her letter, she seems to think that it’s a sure fact. I just don’t even know what’s going on anymore. But you’re right. I’m sure that Dumbledore would be willing to let me go and visit her. Maybe I should go ask right now.” He stood up. “Thank you for everything, Sirius. I really mean it when I say that you’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for.”

Tom got up and left the Slytherin rooms so that he could hurry back to Dumbledore’s office. As he walked through the long corridors, he thought about how he was going to word his request. With both the funerals already disrupting two days of classes, the earliest he could ask would probably be Saturday afternoon, after Slughorn’s brunch. 

He was tempted to ask for a pass to go to Myrtle’s funeral and then use that time, but he knew that he probably wouldn’t be allowed into Azkaban without it having been requested beforehand. And he also knew that it was probably going to kill Susanna not to be able to attend her best friend’s funeral. So even though he hadn’t known Myrtle very well, he would go to her funeral as a friend. She’d only ever tried to look after Susanna, and Tom could respect her for that. 

When Tom reached Dumbledore’s office, he hesitated for a moment before knocking. What if Dumbledore actually said no? That would be insane, and Tom wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle that. But sneaking into Azkaban would be flat out impossible, so the headmaster had to say yes. He just had to. 

So Tom knocked gently on the door, and a moment later, he heard Dumbledore’s voice calling out a friendly, “Come in!” Tom went inside, and Dumbledore smiled. “Back again so soon?”

“Sir, I was wondering if it would be possible for me to go and visit Susanna. I know that this school probably doesn’t want any association with a murderer, but before she killed anyone, she was a close friend of mine, and I need some closure on the matter. Please, Professor.” 

Dumbledore reached up to stroke his beard for a moment. “You think that seeing her in a place like Azkaban would really be that good for you?”

“Yes. And I don’t intend on skipping any classes. I can wait until Saturday afternoon if you want me to, Sir.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Dumbledore let out a long sigh. “I’m not sure that that would be such a good idea, Mr Riddle. Perhaps it would be best to wait until things settle down a little bit.”

Tom clenched his hands into fists and spoke immediately. “Please, Professor. It’s of utmost importance, or I wouldn’t be asking at all, I swear.” He stared at the headmaster, silently willing the man to change his mind. 

Dumbledore reached up to adjust his glasses. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you so passionate about anything before. It’s a good look on you. Well, the Ministry doesn’t normally allow visitors within the first fourteen days of incarceration, but I’ll see what I can do. I’ll let you know as soon as I figure things out.” He smiled softly. “That girl is very lucky to have you.”

Tom shook his head. “Actually, I’m the one who’s lucky to have her. Thank you, Sir. This truly means the world to me.”

Dumbledore nodded once. “I can tell. Now perhaps it would be best for you to run along and interact with your peers. And you may wish to speak with Henry Matheus. If I’m going to be making an exception to the visitation rules then I know he’d want to come too, since he asked me about visiting her as soon as we got back on the day of the trial.”

Tom nodded. “Yes Sir. And thank you again.” Then he hurried off to find Henry, hoping that he hadn’t broken things between them beyond repair.

`

Susanna stared blankly at her visitor. “Of course I’m still sane. It’ll take a lot more than a few dementors to break my spirit.”

Her visitor chuckled. “Let’s just say that while I’m a little surprised, I can only assume that your dear old grandfather decided to help you out. He wouldn’t want his favorite grandchild going crazy on him, would he? So whatever he did to you, how long is it going to last? How long before you become one of them?” They gestured towards the row of cells across from hers, all of them filled with people. 

Some were staring blankly ahead, their eyes empty. Some were talking to the walls, and kept on going like the walls would talk back. Some were rolling around in their small space, screaming and screaming like that would change anything. Some just looked completely dead, and Susanna was too afraid to call out to them and ask. 

Susanna shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve got a strong constitution and that’s that. You, on the other hand, are rather interesting. Most people I’ve seen come in here start shivering and shouting within a few minutes. It’s why we don’t get a lot of visitors. But you don’t seem too bothered.”

The visitor pulled back their cloak, revealing a small cat on their lap, made of bluish light. “The beauty of a patronus charm. Of course I know that it won’t last forever, but it should at least last long enough for me to get all the answers that I’m looking for. Though admittedly I was hoping you’d be crazy by now and it would be a little easier.”

Susanna narrowed her eyes. “And what is it that you want to know, exactly? I’ve already given everything away at my trial. What else could there be left for you to want answers to?”

The visitor sighed. “Let’s not beat around the bush. I want you to tell me why I’m here. I know at the trial you said that you were the one who murdered those people, but we both know that that’s not true. You’re not capable of something like that.”

Susanna tilted her head in acknowledgement. “You’re right. I’m only good at killing people indirectly.” She frowned. “I have my reasons for being in here. And they’re none of your business. If you really cared about me, you’d just go and leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with you. Not anymore.”

The visitor nodded slowly. “I understand. But I just want you to know that if you getting yourself locked up in here is supposed to be some form of penance, then it’s entirely unnecessary. Guilt is an ugly thing that can tear you up inside. But Susanna, you’ve got nothing to feel so guilty for.” They stood up, and pulled their cloak tighter around them. “You know, I’m starting to think that stubbornness runs in the Matheus family.” They sighed again. “I wish that you’d just talk to me, but I know that I can’t force you. You’re one of the strongest willed people that I know. Ah, I’d better get out of here before my patronus fades. I’ll be back though. You’ll break eventually, and that’s when I’ll come back.”

Susanna stared at the visitor with hard eyes. “It’s so nice to know you care.”

The visitor shrugged. “Of course I care. But if you’re not going to cooperate with me, then there’s not exactly anything that I can do. Fifty years is a very long time, Susanna. You won’t last very long in here at all. You may live; I wouldn’t doubt that much from you. But your mind will splinter into so many pieces that you won’t even know your own name anymore. If you’re okay with that, then just keep going as you are.”

“You’re such a fake,” Susanna snorted. “You don’t scare me. You may talk big, but you know that you can’t do anything in here. The dementors don’t listen to you, and I’m sure they don’t appreciate people who injure their food sources. So hurry along. And then next time I see you is going to be on my terms, I can promise you that.”

The visitor gulped, and looked visibly shaken, even with a hood covering their face. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Susanna. You’re just delusional. You’ve snapped or you’re in the process of snapping. But just look around you for five seconds. You are the exact opposite of being in control right now. So don’t go acting all high and mighty now.” They started to turn away. “I’m going now. I’ll be back in a few days. That should give you enough time to cool down. Nice seeing you again.”

Susanna watched her visitor leave, and despite having a patronus in their hands, they ducked away and shivered every time a dementor even got close. She watched until the visitor was out of sight, then sank down onto her filthy little cot. She wrapped her arms around herself, and wish that she’d thought things through just a little bit better before getting herself trapped in a living hell. And staying sane was almost worse, because it meant she couldn’t hide from those demons even in her mind. She frowned as she wondered if she’d even be able to make it three months in this place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yet another mysterious stranger who knows Susanna. She truly is a gal with a lot of secrets haha


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of Susanna in this chapter. Well, she’s mentioned a few times, but that’s about it. I will make up for it next time (:

Tom didn’t get up to move, even after most other occupants of the small building had left. Sirius looked at his friend with concern. “Hey, Tom, are you alright?”

Tom looked down at his hands. “I can’t believe those bastards actually had the audacity to show up here. How horrible do you have to be to show up at the funeral of the person that you killed? Avery and the others are all disgusting.”

Sirius frowned. “I know. I can’t believe it either. But there’s nothing we can do. Publically accusing them after Susanna’s confession would only make us look crazy. And the funeral’s over now. If we stick around for too long it’ll seem weird.”

Tom nodded, and slowly got to his feet. “I just hate how few people were here. Susanna would’ve been heartbroken to see that. I know that Myrtle wasn’t the most popular girl in the school, but that doesn’t stop this from totally sucking. And I know that Dippet’s funeral was unofficially mandatory, but it doesn’t seem right that he got to have his at the school with nearly a thousand people in attendance, while Myrtle’s is far away with just a handful of people. And a chunk of that handful being her own murderers.”

Sirius nodded towards the exit of the small building, trying to get Tom to follow him out. “Come on. We need to get back with the rest of them. Otherwise we’ll be that pair of idiots who got themselves locked out of the school.”

The two boys were able to easily catch up with the rest of the group, and they both caught the portkey on time. When they returned to Hogwarts, Tom started to head towards the dungeons, but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. “Mr Riddle. I finally have some information for you.” Tom nodded for Sirius to go on without him, while he turned to face Dumbledore. 

He looked at the headmaster with a lot of hope. “Can Henry and I visit her?”

Dumbledore started to gently push Tom in the direction of his office. “Perhaps we could speak of this matter somewhere a bit more private.” They went to the office, and Dumbledore was sure to lock the door behind him. “I’ve made my case with the ministry, and they finally got back to me just before we left for Ms Warren’s funeral. They’ve agreed to allow the two of you to visit Azkaban on Saturday afternoon, as you suggested, so long as I and an official from the ministry, accompany you. It is a matter of security and the fact that you boys cannot do a patronus charm, which means that you’d need supervision just to get through the prison safely. But we shall go. I suggested we go after lunch so you’ll have full bellies when you’re there.”

Tom closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you.”

The headmaster smiled gently. “I don’t know what you are hoping to get out of this visit, Mr Riddle. But I do hope that you get what you need. And I hope that you’ll be able to handle the sight of her in whatever state she may be in.”

Tom nodded. “I’m sure that I’ll be fine. Have you told Henry yet?”

There was a sudden loud scream coming from somewhere out in the hallway, and Dumbledore and Tom both rushed out to see what the problem was. A girl was sitting on the floor and intermittently screaming and crying as a few other students attempted to comfort her. 

Dumbledore pushed past the other students, and knelt down in front of the upset girl. “Miss Rupple, what is wrong?”

She sniffled, and whimpered a few times before pointing over at the girls’ lavatory that was right across the hall from where she was sitting. “I just went in to fix my hair, when there was suddenly someone flying out of the mirror! It flew right through me and I just felt so cold…”

Dumbledore frowned. “One of the school ghosts attacked you? That doesn’t seem right.”

She shook her head. “No. I only got a quick glimpse before I ran out of there, but whoever it was, I didn’t recognize them. I don’t feel good at all now.” Dumbledore motioned to one of the older students who’d come to investigate the commotion. 

“Please escort Miss Rupple to the infirmary.” He stood back up and looked around at the other kids. “You may carry on with your day. I shall personally see to this matter. Until this is resolved, the girls’ lavatory on this floor will be closed off.” He hurried away, most likely to find one of the other professors to help him investigate the matter of a ghost. 

As soon as the headmaster and the other students had dispersed, Tom quickly slipped into the bathroom, eager to figure out what was going on. The school ghosts were generally good enough to avoid aggressively attacking the students, and for that girl out there, who looked to be a fourth or fifth year, to not recognize the ghost, that would imply it wasn’t one of the regular ones. 

He stepped into the bathroom, wincing at the taboo of being a guy in the girls’ restroom, but luckily, there were no other girls inside at that moment. He walked over to the mirror that had a brush lying on the ground in front of it. “If there’s a ghost in here right now, show yourself!”

A moment later, something came at Tom from behind, and went right through his stomach and out the other side. Even though it didn’t exactly hurt, it made him feel cold and hollow. He looked up to see who was floating in front of him, and his eyes widened at the sight of a crumpled Ravenclaw uniform, ridiculous pigtails, and round glasses. He stared in surprise. 

After the staring went on for an uncomfortable amount of time, the ghost crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s the matter Tom Riddle? You disappointed to see that you weren’t able to get rid of a mudblood like me?”

Tom quickly shook his head. “What? No, of course not! Myrtle, I had nothing to do with you dying!” 

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. The last time I spoke to you, you said that you didn’t even care about Susanna.”

He stopped to think about it, and realized that it was true, his path had mainly stayed separate from Myrtle’s since that conversation where she’d told him about Susanna being attacked for the second time. Tom let out a soft sigh. “Listen, that was a long time ago, okay? Susanna and I are very close now. And I’m sorry that this happened to you.”

Myrtle’s eyes drooped, and she sank a little closer to the floor. “I don’t even know what happened. I was just in one of the stalls, um, fixing my hair, when I heard some kind of noise by the sinks. Sounded like someone talking in a funny language, and even weirder, it was definitely a boy. I thought it sounded like you, but with crazy funny languages it can be hard to tell. When I came out to look, I remember feeling scared, and there was a great big pair of yellow eyes, then there was just nothing. The next time I opened up my eyes I was gray and could fly. Wouldn’t have figured out that I’m dead if it weren’t for that. And no one’s come in here since I died. Probably thought it would be too creepy to be in the same room that I died in.”

Tom couldn’t help feeling surprised. How could it have sounded like him when he knew for sure that he’d had nothing to do with Myrtle’s death? He’d been unconscious when she died. “What do you mean by funny language, anyways? Like Latin or something?”

She shook her head, and paused for a moment to think. “No. It was more like a hissing noise. Maybe like a person really dedicated to pretending they’re a snake?”

Tom’s eyes widened. “You mean like this?” He took a deep breath, then spoke in the hissing dialect of parseltongue. **“This is how I talk to Nagini, and it’s how I opened the chamber before, but there shouldn’t be anyone else able to use parseltongue.”**

Myrtle narrowed her eyes. “Yes. Exactly like that. It’s definitely you that I heard. You really are my killer!”

Tom shook his head. “But I’m not! Maybe I’m wrong, and there’s someone else in the school who knows parseltongue, but I swear that I had absolutely nothing to do with your death.”

Myrtle looked dubious of that answer. “But the voice I heard sounded just like your hissy voice. How do you explain that?” She held up one hand. “Actually, I don’t really care. If you’re close with Susanna like you claim, then I want to hear from her. If she says it wasn’t you, I’ll believe her.” 

Tom’s shoulders slumped down, and he gave Myrtle an apologetic look. “Susanna’s not around-”

Myrtle let out an annoying screech. “What? She’s dead too!?”

Tom shook his head. “No! God, no. She’s not around Hogwarts anymore. She confessed to murdering you, and was sentenced to fifty years in Azkaban.”

There was a long moment of silence, and Myrtle sank down even lower. She repositioned herself so that it would look like she was sitting, if it weren’t for the fact that she was hovering an inch above the floor. “But Susanna didn’t do this.” She sounded lost, like she didn’t even know what else to say. “Someone must’ve coerced her into it, or, or,” she let out another screech. “Ah! She didn’t do this!”

Tom held his hands out. “Hey, you don’t have to try and convince me. I already know that. Susanna isn’t a killer, and she definitely had no reason to kill her best friend in the entire world. Or Dippet for that matter.”

Myrtle peered up at Tom. “What? The headmaster was killed too?” She tilted her head. “Who would possibly be stupid enough to kill the headmaster himself and expect to get away with it?”

He was hesitant to answer even though he knew he was right, until he saw the look on Myrtle’s face. He wasn’t even sure what it was that she needed to know, but he knew that she was expecting something. “Henry and I think that it was Jonathon Avery. He’s in Slytherin, and he’s always shown a hateful attitude towards muggle borns. I was teaching some of the guys in Slytherin how to speak in parseltongue, but I stopped before any of them actually really managed to learn anything. I’m pretty sure he’s also the one who attacked Susanna that night on the quidditch pitch. He’s a real piece of work, but I don’t know what I could do to stop him. He comes from a powerful family, and he’s strong on his own. He was able to carry on like normal even after I used cr- even after some painful things he’s been through.”

Myrtle raised one eyebrow. “You don’t have to act so innocent. I know that you haven’t always been mister nice guy. Not that I’m saying I believe that you suddenly are right now, but you do seem to have a better attitude than last time we spoke.” She got up, and let out a long sigh. “If magical ghosts are anything like the ones my dad used to tell me stories about, then I’ll be stuck here until my unfinished business gets finished. I’m assuming that that would be catching my killer, and getting Susanna out of the slammer if I can. Then I’ll be able to go somewhere… else.”

Tom frowned. “I’m not sure that that’s exactly it. Not that I’m an expert in this stuff. I was raised by muggles too.” Myrtle seemed surprised by that new nugget of information, though she didn’t interrupt Tom. “I think that if you become a ghost it means that you were really really scared at the time of your death.”

Myrtle shrugged. “Obviously I was scared, but since I didn’t really know that I was going to be dropping dead immediately, I didn’t have time to build up the really strong fear. Let’s just say that neither of us have any clue what we’re actually talking about.”

“That’s fair.”

They were both silent for a minute, before Myrtle looked at Tom sadly. “So how are we going to catch this creep and spring Susanna free? Please tell me that you didn’t tell me all that sad stuff just to say that there’s nothing we can do about it. Because if that’s the case, then I’ll-” The door to the bathroom swung open, and Tom ducked into one of the stalls, not wanting to be spotted in the girls’ room, especially after Dumbledore had announced that it was going to be shut down. 

Tom had the feeling that he was going to be caught and get in trouble when he heard Dumbledore’s voice. “Miss Warren,” he didn’t sound exactly surprised, but he could just be good at hiding it.

Instead of answering him like a normal human being, she screamed loudly, and Tom could hear the loud whooshes of her flying around the room. “Go use your own toilet!” she screamed in an unnecessarily high pitch. A moment later, she pushed her head into the cubicle Tom was hiding in, going right through the metal door. “They’re gone now.”

Tom got out of the stall. “Why did you scare them away like that?”

She grinned. “Didn’t want you getting in trouble for using the wrong toilet yourself. Besides, if I’m too nice, they’ll try and find a way to kick me out, and I’m not ready to go yet. I need to scare Olive Hornby at least once. Maybe a few more times than that. Oh, and this Avery kid. I definitely need to give him a good fright.”

Tom tilted his head. “Who’s Olive Hornby?”

Myrtle frowned. “I guess you could say that she’s the reason that I was in this stupid bathroom on the day that I died. I lied before. I wasn’t actually fixing my hair that night, I was crying, because Olive is a bully. And I wasn’t going to complain to Susanna again about it, because I know that she’d be willing to listen, but it wouldn’t be fair to keep burdening her with that stuff. It’ll probably be more fun if I go haunt Avery first though, before he gets word that I’m here.”

Tom shook his head. “I don’t think that that’s such a good idea.”

She snorted. “Why? You afraid that he’ll kill me or something?”

Tom sighed. “I just don’t think it is. But of course I can’t stop you. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to scare him into confessing. And I suppose that at least if you’re roaming the school you won’t be cooped up in this bathroom for eternity. That sounds like it would get old fast.”

Myrtle nodded. “Yeah, I know. So you said he’s a Slytherin? Don’t worry, I’ll find him.” There was a mischievous grin on her face. “If that boy is responsible for my death and Susanna’s incarceration, then he’s definitely going to pay. I’ll never let him forget what happened.” 

She sounded so sadistically gleeful, but Tom couldn’t really fault her for that. He didn’t think he’d just sit back and do nothing if someone had murdered him and he’d come back as a ghost. So he could understand how she wanted to get back at her murderer. 

Tom turned towards the bathroom door. “I’m just going to get out of here, alright? Henry and I are going to go visit Susanna tomorrow afternoon. I’ll come find you afterwards to let you know how she’s doing.”

Myrtle nodded, her grin fading and getting replaced with a more serious look. “Alright. Thank you. Is it mean for me to say that I’m glad I’m the one who’s dead and not the one who’s locked up in Azkaban?”

Tom shook his head. “No, that’s not mean. But Susanna said she knew what she was getting into, so hopefully she really does have some absolutely brilliant plan hidden up her sleeve.” He paused next to the door and glanced back. “And Myrtle? I know that we aren’t the best of friends or anything, but I’m glad that you’re not gone forever.”

The ghost gave him a large smile in response. “Well, you’re the first to say so. Thank you.”

Then Tom left, and hurried away, hoping that no one saw him leave the girls’ room. The last thing he needed was some reputation as a peeping tom. He hurried back to the Slytherin dorms, hoping to find Sirius and tell him about everything that had just happened. This was starting to be all too much for one teenage boy to carry on his own.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was forever ago, but back in during the trial, when Grindelwald attacked and froze everyone in place he gave Susanna a potion that he said would maintain her sanity among dementors for three months. The specific type of potion was never mentioned. And yup, Myrtle is now ghostly Myrtle. The reason she didn’t have much info is cuz I didn’t want her knowing too much more than she did in the actual Harry Potter books. And yes, the visit to Azkaban is here:

Tom and Sirius walked out of Slughorn’s office, trying to avoid laughing until they were far enough away that the professor wouldn’t be able to hear them. Finally, they looked at each other, and both started cracking up. “That man is a total nut! He clearly wants to hang out with all the kids he thinks will be successful someday so that their fame will rub off onto him or something.”

Tom snorted. “I know. I’m just glad that Avery wasn’t there, or it would’ve been disastrous when those two muggle borns walked in.”

Mentioning Avery immediately sobered up both boys, as they couldn’t laugh much with a murderer on their minds. Sirius cleared his throat. “So you and Susanna’s brother are going after lunch to visit Susanna, right? Good luck with that.”

“Thanks. I just hope that she’s managed to stay even a little bit sane even though it’s already been so long. She’s pretty stubborn and strong-willed, so that shouldn’t really be too much to ask for, should it?”

Sirius shook his head. “No, of course not. I’m sure she’ll be fine. You’ll get there and she’ll just be drinking tea and bragging to those dementors about how she could beat them in a game of quidditch.”

Since the brunch had been so late, Tom wasn’t hungry when lunch time rolled around. But he figured that Dumbledore wouldn’t have mentioned wanting them to have full bellies unless it was important, so he went down to the Great Hall anyways, to eat at least a few bites. 

A girl from the Ravenclaw house got up in the middle of lunch, and wandered over to where Tom and Sirius were sitting at the Slytherin table, away from the other Slytherins that they used to hang out with. She had long silvery hair and pale skin, which made her dark brown eyes stand out. She had an absent-minded look on her face as she casually stopped right behind Tom. 

He turned to look at her, and she smiled. She spoke in a soft voice. “Are you Tom Riddle?” She kept going before he even had a chance to answer. “I’m Miyara Lovegood. I thought that you might be able to use this.” She held out two chocolate bars. “I’m sure they’ll work to warm you up when you get too cold.”

Tom cautiously accepted the chocolate, though he was curious about who this strange girl was. She seemed to be about the same age as him, but it was hard to tell for sure because her carefree expression made her look so young. “Um, thanks? But why would I need chocolate? And even if I do need chocolate, how would you know about it?”

Miyara smiled. “It was the grunklers. They can see a person’s future, you know. And they saw you freezing like you were about to die. For you to suddenly get so cold in this weather, considering you were with the girl who was arrested for murder, it is logical to assume that you will visit her, and the dementors will chill you to your bones. The chocolate will help, I promise.”

Sirius arched one eyebrow. “You’re a bit of an odd one, aren’t you?”

She turned to look at Sirius, still smiling pleasantly. “I have heard that before. If being happy means being odd, then I’m alright with that.”

Sirius held back some laughter, and managed to keep a pretty straight face. “Are you even allowed to dress like that?”

Tom looked closer, and realized that beneath her robes, she was not wearing the typical school uniform, but was instead wearing a worn out looking blue tee shirt, and a pair of off-white shorts. Tom wasn’t even sure of what was in the dress code exactly, but he knew that this probably went against it. Even if it was the weekend and people were wearing their casual clothes, this seemed a little too casual. She just continued smiling. “I’m not a big fan of the school uniform. Haven’t worn one since the first day of my first year.”

Sirius shrugged. “Well alright then. Seems like you’ve got everything all figured out, haven’t you?”

“Well of course not. The only ones who’ve got everything all figured out are the grunklers.” She looked back at Tom. “Don’t forget to bring the chocolate with you. You’ll need it for sure.” She tilted her head. “Oh, right,” she pulled a third bar out of her pocket. “You’ll need one to give Susanna.”

She started to walk away, but Tom wasn’t finished talking to the Ravenclaw girl yet. “Hey! Do you know Susanna!”

Miyara glanced back. “Of course not. The grunklers warned me years ago to stay away from someone who would eventually go on to cause so much trouble. But she is my housemate, and I wish her no ill will. And her brother is such a nice person, so I know she can’t be too bad. If she’ll accept the chocolate, make sure to tell her to save it for after your visit. Have a fun trip.” She gave a little wave before going back to sit down at the Ravenclaw table again. 

Tom looked down at the three chocolate bars they were holding. They were a brand he’d never heard of before, but he didn’t think that that air headed girl would be trying to poison him. He looked at Sirius. “Have you ever heard of grunklers before?”

Sirius shook his head. “Nope. She’s obviously a few ingredients short of a sanity potion. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If you’re going to go and be crazy anywhere, you may as well be crazy here in Hogwarts. It’s practically the school motto at this point.”

They finished eating in silence, and then as soon as lunch was over, they headed to Dumbledore’s office. He still hadn’t officially moved into the headmaster’s office yet, but Tom knew that that would happen soon enough. Once they got there, they saw Henry already standing and waiting. 

Sirius gave Tom a quick hug. “Be safe, okay? I don’t want to find out that you’ve let anything happen to you just because you decided to do something stupid or heroic or both. And tell Susanna I said hi, okay?” 

Tom returned the hug for a moment, then took a step back. “Alright, man. I’ll see you later. I’m not sure how long we’ll be gone for, but I’ll definitely be seeing you.”

Once Sirius was gone, Henry looked at Tom with narrowed eyes. “I can’t believe you have the audacity to want to visit her in prison after you’re one of the people who testified against her.”

Tom sighed. “Let’s be honest here. No matter what any of us said, no matter how many people tried to fight in her favor, her own confession would’ve overpowered all of that. She sounded pretty damn convincing when she testified against herself. You were there; you already know that. I don’t know what she’s planning exactly, but I do know that Susanna is exactly where she wants to be right now. So for just today can we please put aside our differences and be nothing but a couple of friendly faces for her? She’s probably already insane enough as it is without having to listen to us argue the entire visit.”

Henry’s shoulders slumped down, and he quickly looked around to make sure there was no one else nearby before leaning forward and speaking in a soft whisper. “Susanna should be fine. During the trial… she got something to help her stay sane. I don’t know what it was, but if that guy is really such a powerful wizard, I’m sure he knew what he was doing.” He paused, then his voice went back to its normal volume. “Looks like Dumbledore is coming right now.” He stuck one hand out, obviously wanting Tom to shake it. “I can agree to get along with you for a couple of hours if that’s what’ll make Susanna happy.”

Tom handed over one of the chocolate bars while returning the handshake. “Don’t eat this now. I was told that if we get too cold from being around the dementors, this chocolate will help.” Henry slipped the candy bar into his pocket.

When Dumbledore was closer, he nodded at the two boys. “Mr Riddle. Mr Matheus. We will be taking a portkey to the dock where a ministry official and a boat will be waiting to take us to Azkaban. Are you both prepared?” They both glanced at each other, then back at the headmaster as they nodded. “Ah, good then. Let’s go.” 

,,,

The entire boat trip, the ministry official kept staring at Tom and Henry with icy eyes. “If you two hadn’t been so insistent on wanting to do this, then I wouldn’t have to be here right now. Or perhaps if you were stronger wizards then you’d be able to go by yourselves the way that other visitor does.”

Tom frowned. “What other visitor? Another student from the school?”

The official shook his head. “Of course not. To be honest, I was surprised to find out that the minister is allowing so many people to visit before the first fourteen days are over. But I’ve never known her to do anything with a logical reason, so I’ll have to trust that there’s some greater purpose to this.” He looked at the two students. “Though I do find it very hard to believe,” he muttered.

When they reached the prison, Tom couldn’t help shivering. The whole place screamed dark energy and unhappiness and something very uninviting, and he was almost afraid to go inside. But he knew that he had to, for Susanna’s sake. She had to live here for fifty years, the very least that Tom could do was visit her.

Before they even opened the doors to the prison, the official and Dumbledore both cast the same spell. A glowing silver phoenix appeared in front of the headmaster, while a glowing silver frog appeared in front of the official. Tom looked mesmerized. “Whoa, what is that?”

“It is the patronus charm,” Dumbledore explained. “It’s a sort of protection spell. It’ll make sure that none of the dementors inside get too close. You’ll learn it eventually, I’m sure. For now, these two will be sufficient in keeping the four of us safe.”

They walked inside, and Tom and Henry both began shivering a little more. Even with the phoenix and the frog vigilantly guarding them and keeping away the dementors, the boys couldn’t help feeling some fear. 

When they finally stopped outside a cell, the official motioned towards the figure curled up on the tiny cot, wearing a black and white striped dress. The official frowned. “In case no one’s told you yet, it is likely that she will already be losing her senses. Don’t expect too much.”   
Henry barely listened to the official as he rushed forward, and grabbed at the cold metal bars. “Susanna!”

The figure on the cot stirred, then slowly sat up. Susanna blinked at her brother sleepily, and then when she realized who it was, she rushed over to the bars as well. They hugged as best they could through the thick bars. “Henry!” She smiled brightly. “I can’t believe you’re here. I thought you’d still be mad at me for never telling you about our grandfather.”

Henry shook his head. “None of that matters right now. You’re family, Susanna. It’s my job to forgive you even when you do stupid things. And I’m not the only one who’d been itching to see you.”

Tom awkwardly stepped forward. “Hey.”

Susanna’s eyes started to tear up. “Tom, I wasn’t sure if you’d actually show up.” He pulled her into a hug, then pressed the second chocolate bar into her hands as he pulled away. “Save this. It’ll help against the dementors once we’re gone.”

She nodded, and immediately slid the bar up her sleeve. Then she looked past the boys, and frowned at the sight of the adults. “You couldn’t come on your own?”

Tom shook his head. “No. Sorry. But we have fifty years. Plenty of time to learn the patronus charm for ourselves. Oh you’ll never guess who was asking about you. Myrtle. She’s a ghost at the school.”

The tears in Susanna’s eyes began to overflow, and they slid down her cheeks, clearing a line through some of the grime that was there. “You mean I can see her again? For real?”

“Yes. For real. And since she’s a ghost, she’ll still be there waiting for you once you get out of here.”

Then Henry cleared his throat. “So who was your other visitor? Anyone we know?”

Susanna frowned. “Ah, no one of importance. Tell me what’s been going on around the school? Has anyone else been hurt? Is everything running smoothly?”

Henry seemed a bit curious about the fact she’d brushed aside her other visitor so easily, but he wasn’t going to push it. “The school seems to be alright. There was a big funeral for Dippet, and now Professor Dumbledore is the new headmaster. That’s why he’s here with us right now. And there hasn’t been too much talk of you in the newspapers or anything, so that should be good. It’s not the same without you though.” He reached through the bars to grab one of Susanna’s hands. “I can’t stand the thought of you still being stuck in this horrible place.”

Susanna smiled, and squeezed Henry’s hand comfortingly. “It’s okay. I know what I’m doing. I need to be here right now. Hang on,” she went over to her very uncomfortable looking cot, and reached under her pillow to pull out a scrap of paper. She walked back over, and handed the paper to Tom. “Here. This is important.” Then she looked back to Henry. “How are Mom and Dad?”

He winced. “They were definitely disturbed by your confession. I’ll be honest, even I was disturbed by it. It sounded so real, Susanna. You nearly convinced even me that it was all true.”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “It was all real. I killed them, Henry. That’s why I’m here.

Henry shook his head adamantly. “I don’t believe you. Whatever the truth is, whatever’s got you so worked up that you thought hiding the fact that our grandfather is a dark wizard and getting yourself thrown in prison would be a good idea, whatever it is, you can tell me. You can trust me, Susanna.”

She pressed her lips together in a flat line before shaking her head. “But I can’t, Henry. You don’t have what it takes to get the job done. Believe me, I know what I’m doing. And I know it sounds insane to ask you to believe in me and trust me when I just said that I can’t trust you, but I’m not trying to be awful. I have a plan. I have things that I need to do. And this is the only way.”

The official cleared his throat. “Alright, that’s enough time spent in this godforsaken place. Come on, let’s go.”

Both Henry and Tom gave Susanna another hug, and then they were ushered away. When they left the building, they realized that they felt sick and cold and gross, and eating the chocolate really did help warm them up inside pretty quickly. 

Later, when they were back in Hogwarts, Tom finally dared to pull out the scrap of paper that Susanna had given him. All it said was _‘the darkness that fills the room scares me just as much as you’_. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but he knew Susanna wouldn’t have given it to him if it wasn’t important. There was something going on, something big, and Tom was determined to find out what. He was going to figure everything out and save Susanna even if it killed him.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, so I know that this whole story has escalated a lot since the beginning, and now one of the biggest questions I keep getting is ‘will this story eventually merge back into canon?’ and the honest answer is that I just don’t know. Some people seem to want a happy ending here, while others don’t want this to become an obvious AU. I shall think on it myself, of course, but I’m also open to hearing any suggestions from y’all. And that’s enough from me. Now back to the story.

Tom stared at the scrap of paper that Susanna had given him for what had to be the thousandth time. It was possible that it was just the mad ramblings of someone going insane from being around the dementors, but Henry had seemed convinced that Susanna would be alright, at least for a little while, and she’d certainly seemed sane enough during their visit. So either the paper held complete insane nonsense, or she’d been sane enough to hide her real thoughts. Tom just wished that he could figure out what exactly her real thoughts were. 

When he heard sudden footsteps walking up towards him, Tom crumpled up the paper and shoved it into one of the pockets on his robes. He relaxed when he saw that it was only Sirius. He frowned at his friend. “I can’t figure out what the hell Susanna’s note is supposed to mean.” He’d already given Sirius the play-by-play of the entire visit as soon as he’d returned to Hogwarts. 

Sirius shrugged, and sat down next to Tom on the hideously green couch in the Slytherin common room. “I have no idea, mate. She’s your friend. Or your… whatever. Guess you’ll just have to try and visit her again as soon as possible. Or, well you said that that Myrtle girl was Susanna’s best friend, right? Maybe she’d know something?”

Almost immediately, there was a loud cackle, and then a familiar bespectacled face rose up out of the floor. “Did I hear someone call my name?”

Tom hid his surprise at the sudden appearance of the ghost. “Myrtle. Nice to see you again. What are you doing hanging around the Slytherin dorms?”

The dead girl smiled. “I was waiting for this Avery kid you mentioned to hop by. I can’t wait to make him ruin his pants.” She cackled again, and rubbed her hands together like she had some evil plot in mind. Though she did sink back towards the ground, and sounded a bit sad. “I only wish I’d actually seen the face of my killer so that I could tell everyone who it really was.”

“You could always lie about seeing their face,” Sirius offered, his voice sounding slightly nervous.

Myrtle looked at Sirius with surprise, like she hadn’t even noticed him in the room. “Oh.” She raised one eyebrow. “You’re pretty cute, aren’t you? Too bad I only get confidence and cute boys after dying. Life’s a bitch.” Then she shook her head, finally getting around to responding to Sirius’s suggestion. “No, I couldn’t lie. I mean, I guess I’m capable of it, but I wouldn’t want to. There is always the chance that you’re wrong, and I’d get another innocent person locked away. And also in Ravenclaw we value honesty and truth. I’d be betraying my house to lie about something so important.”

Sirius smiled. “You still have house loyalty after dying?”

She gestured to her robes with the Ravenclaw crest on one side. “It would look bad if I didn’t.” She sighed. “So when this idiot going to show up so I can scare the crap out of him? I will find it all rather amusing.” She tilted her head. “I wonder if it’ll be more or less entertaining than when I first scared Olive.”

Tom glanced around quickly to make sure that there was no one else in the common room, and then he pulled the crumpled paper out of his pocket. He smoothed it out, then held it up for Myrtle to see it. “Do you know what this could mean? Susanna gave it to me, but it doesn’t make any sense. All she said about it is that it’s important. But I can’t seem to figure out what she’s trying to say.”

Myrtle reached to grab the paper, but her hand went right through it, and she grimaced. “This new existence is certainly going to take some getting used to, unfortunately.” She moved closer so that she could peer at the writing. She read it over a few times, then back away. “That’s not Susanna’s writing. And that parchment looks older than a few days. She must’ve gotten it somewhere in Azkaban.”

Tom couldn’t help being a bit surprised by that new information. But it made sense that he wouldn’t be able to recognize whether something was in Susanna’s handwriting or not, since he couldn’t remember reading much that had been written by her, if anything at all.

Myrtle kept talking, unaware of the guilt Tom felt at not having gotten close enough to Susanna to even know her writing. “It does look girlish though. I don’t think there are many female prisoners at Azkaban. Probably only a few. And even less who’d still be sane enough to write something important and know to hold onto it. Or it could just be a very girly guy. Those exist too.” Her eyes flicked over to Sirius’s long hair. She looked back at Tom. “Sorry I couldn’t be more help. I’m just going to go back to hiding in the floor so that I’ll be able to get Avery real good.”

Tom smiled. “You were a great help, I promise.” He stood up, and motioned for Sirius to follow him up to their dorm room. There was another boy already in there, lying on his bed reading a textbook, and Tom glared at the boy until he got the hint to get out. Then Tom and Sirius both sat down on Tom’s bed, since Sirius’s bed was in the sixth year dorms. “I wish that there was something I could do to just get her out of there now.”

Sirius nodded. “I know. I can’t even imagine what it would be like for the first girl you like to be put in jail for being a murderer.” 

They both sat in silence, until the door to the dorm room burst open, and Avery stormed in, looking pissed. Tom and Sirius both jumped to their feet and reached for their wands immediately. 

Avery scowled. “Why the bloody hell is there a ghost in our common room screaming bloody murder? Where could she have possibly gotten the idea that I had anything to do with her death when her murderer is already in jail?”

Myrtle slid up through the floor. “Ah, now that I’m a ghost, I’m no longer repelled from the boy dorms of any house. Wonderful.” Then she turned to look at Avery, and she let out an obnoxiously loud shriek. “I know that you’re responsible for my death Jon! I’m going to haunt you every waking hour for the entire rest of your life for this! I swear on my death that I will never allow you to be happy after what you’ve done!” She suddenly ran right through Avery, leaving him wracked with shivers, and then she turned around and ran through him again. She cackled maniacally. “Consider this your eternal punishment!”

Avery whipped out his own wand, and hissed, “ _Skurge_ ,” with some smug satisfaction. 

Myrtle paused for a moment, then turned to blink owlishly at avery through her glasses. After a moment, she barked out a laugh. “Come on, I was there when we had to learn that spell second year. Why would I be scared of it when I already know that it does nothing to actually harm a ghost? You’ll have to do better than that, Avery wavery.” She grinned. “Too bad you’re not a stronger wizard, haha!”

Avery paused for a moment, then his head whipped towards Tom. “No, but I know who is. _Imperio_.” A jet of light shot out of his wand, and was about to hit a surprised looking Tom. 

Sirius let out a loud shout, and leapt in the way, getting hit instead. A moment later, Sirius stood there with a blank look on his face. Before Avery could do anything, Tom charged forward and tackled his former friend to the ground. Avery quickly shot a spell at him to send him flying back, and Tom bounced off the dorm room wall with a soft groan. 

Myrtle shrieked loudly before disappearing through the walls, intent on finding a teacher who would be able to stop the fighting before it could escalate any further. None of the boys even noticed the ghost taking her leave of them. 

Tom quickly jumped to his feet, and cursed under his breath before casting an old fallback spell without stopping to think too hard about it. “ _Crucio_!” Avery rose up in the air, and began writhing in pain. Moments later, Sirius collapsed to the ground, shaking his head and looking around in confusion. 

Avery was shaking all over from the pain, but Tom didn’t let up. Once Sirius realized what was going on, he grabbed at Tom’s arm. “Stop it! That’s enough! Tom stop! You have to be the good guy! Come on!”

It took longer than it should have, but Sirius’s words did sink in, and Tom cut the spell, watching coldly as Avery tumbled to the ground. The boy was curled up in a ball, shivering and looking like he wasn’t going to move again for a while. Tom frowned. “He deserved it. He was going to try and force me to do something horrible to Myrtle. And then he was going to make you do something horrible. And he murdered Myrtle and the headmaster, and attacked Susanna and let her go to Azkaban.” He took a deep breath in. “He deserved it,” he said again, like that would put him in the right.

Sirius shook his head. “There’s a million other spells you could’ve used to get him to back off. If anyone finds out you used an unforgivable…”

Both boys looked slightly freaked out when they heard chuckling coming from the curled up figure on the floor. Slowly, Avery looked up at them, a crazed look on his face. “Now that’s more like it. That’s the Tom that we all know and love. Ah, if only I’d known it would be so easy to draw him out.” He managed to stagger to his feet, his eyes flitting all over, and his hair sticking out in every direction. “Looks like all hope hasn’t been lost after all. So I’ll forgive you for blabbing to that dead mudblood. Because you will come back to us eventually.” He chuckled again, sounding thoroughly unhinged. 

Sirius looked at his best friend with genuine fear in his eyes. Though he wasn’t afraid of Tom so much as he was afraid for Tom. “You have to fix him, Tom. If anyone finds out what happened here, it won’t matter that he cast an unforgivable first. You’ll still be kicked out of the school forever. You have to do something to make this right!”

Tom frowned. “So you’re defending him after everything he’s done?”

Sirius quickly shook his head. “Of course I’m not! I’m just trying to save your arse! Come on, quit feeling sorry for yourself and just do something!”

Avery laughed. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I’ve never felt more alive.” His eyes flashed a shade darker than usual. “Tom is still one of us. We just need to get him to remember that.” He turned and started to stumble out of the room. 

Sirius bit his lip for a moment, then pointed his wand at Avery’s back. “Obliviate.” Then he glanced at his friend. “You might be determined to go down, but I’m not going to let you.” They both watched as Avery left the room, still chuckling at random intervals. “We’re supposed to be the good guys now, remember?”

Tom flopped down onto his bed. “Maybe it’s too difficult to be a good guy. If it was that easy for me to use an illegal spell, how can I claim that I really want to change and be good?”

Sirius knelt down next to the bed so that he could look Tom in the eyes. “We’ll get through this, I promise. Just… no more of that, okay? Because to be perfectly honest, I could believe Avery when he said you could still fall. That look on your face was straight up murderous. But you can’t sink to their level. Not anymore.”

Tom let out a soft sigh. “How do the good guys always win in the books when they’re at such great disadvantages that they can’t even use the same spells as the bad guys? It doesn’t seem fair at all if you ask me.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, and reached up to flick Tom’s forehead. “Well then it’s a good thing that no one’s asking you. Seriously though, we’ll figure it all out. Why don’t you just get some rest, okay? I’ll make sure that Avery knows a good story to tell.” He stood up, then leaned over to press a quick kiss to the top of Tom’s head before hurrying away to try and clean up the mess. 

,,,

Susanna heard some of the other prisoners in her hallway making noise, and she walked over to the bars to see what was going on. The first thing she saw was a small blueish cat trotting down the hallway, with a person in a cloak following immediately behind. 

She let out a sigh, and settled down on the floor next to the bars. She was right that it was a visitor for her when the visitor set a chair down in front of Susanna’s cell, and stared in through the bars. “I heard that your brother and boytoy both came by to visit you. That was sweet of them.”

Susanna nodded. “Yes, it was. By the way, what did that secret message you gave me last time actually say? Just out of curiosity.”

Her visitor scowled. “Can you not read?”

Susanna grinned. “Well, first I was tempted to just swallow it. But then I got an even better idea, and I handed it over to my ‘boytoy’. I hope it wasn’t anything too personal.”

The visitor immediately leapt to their feet, and reached down through the bars to grab the collar of Susanna’s drab prison clothes, and yank her to her feet. “You what? Are you crazy? It’s one thing if you don’t want to tell me why the hell we’re even here right now, but it’s a whole other ball of yarn to try and give me a heart attack like that!”

Susanna laughed, and reached up to pull the visitor’s hands away from her dress. “Come on, there’s no need to be so dramatic. You’re way too young to be having heart attacks.”

The visitor was not amused. “You’re just lucky that that didn’t have anything personal written on it.” Their cat jumped up into their arms, providing some small comfort. “You’re a horrible person. But I suppose I can’t really judge. I’ve done rather horrible things myself.”

“Like faking your death?” Susanna offered. 

There was a pause, and then the visitor nodded. “Yes. How did you know about that?”

Susanna was still smiling. “My grandfather is a pretty knowledgeable guy. Once I met him for the first time, and we grew closer, he was always telling me interesting little tidbits about all kinds of people. But don’t worry, I don’t hate you, as horrible as you are. I mostly just pity you.”

The visitor sounded surprised. “You pity me? I haven’t gotten anyone’s pity in a very long time. I’d almost forgotten what it feels like. It isn’t a particularly pleasant feeling, but I suppose, in a way, it means you care.” The visitor took a few steps back, and sank down into the chair they’d brought. “Well, now I’m too worn out to bother trying to question you. Why are you here, Susanna Matheus?”

Susanna shrugged. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

The visitor nodded eagerly. “Yes, I would! That’s why I keep coming back here to see your pathetic self!”

“Well I’ve already told you. I’m a killer.”

The visitor sighed. “And we’ve both already agreed that you’re not. Cut the bull. Why won’t you tell me? Or at least tell me how to get into contact with your grandfather so that I can ask him?”

Susanna sounded just as tired as her visitor. “Because that isn’t how this works. Why don’t you just go on your way now? You wouldn’t want to be stuck here after your patronus fades.” She hesitated for a moment, then went over to her bed to grab something. She walked back over to the bars and held out a single square of chocolate. “Here. It really does help.”

The visitor didn’t seem to trust Susanna’s offer, but after a long moment, they finally grabbed the square. “Thanks. But don’t think that this lets you off the hook. I’ll be back.”

Susanna nodded once. “I believe you.” She watched as her visitor hurried away, not even bothering to take their chair, and she felt overwhelmingly grateful to have visitors of any sort in this hell hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the same mysterious visitor as last time, not a new one. I’m just trying to keep everything about them concealed, including their gender, which is why they’re simply ‘the visitor’. Hope that doesn’t get confusing haha


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the mysterious stranger, it will all be revealed eventually. Not sure when, but at least this time I actually know who the stranger is in advance. Usually I don’t do that much thinking ahead. I think Tom might always find himself in a kind of in between place, or at least for a while. I’m glad you’re still enjoying this, and here’s the next chapter.

Tom woke up from his short nap feeling even more tired out than he had before. Now that he’d had time to rest and think things over, he did feel a little bit guilty for cursing Avery. He knew that what Sirius had said was true; there were a million other spells he could’ve used that would be far less forbidden. But he couldn’t help it. Seeing someone he cared about (and the thought that he actually cared about Sirius surprised him as much as anyone) getting hurt had made him want to retaliate by doing whatever would hurt the worst. 

But if they were planning on being the good guys, then that kind of behavior was unacceptable. At least Sirius had the good sense to wipe the moment from Avery’s mind to prevent the boy from spilling everything and getting Tom expelled. He knew that being expelled would be far worse than death, since it would mean getting sent back to that horrible orphanage full of idiotic children. 

Tom got up, and stretched his arms over his head. Thinking of Sirius jumping to his aid so quickly had him thinking more about his best friend. Sirius was from a pureblood family, and the Lestranges were one of the strictest pureblood families around. So reasonably enough, Sirius had gone his whole life hating mud- muggle borns- and had had no problem in letting the rest of the world know it too. But now Sirius had done a complete one-eighty on his previous way of thinking, and was willing to support Tom being a ‘good guy’ one hundred percent. It was strange, and Tom wasn’t sure what he ever could have done to inspire such a great amount of loyalty in Sirius. 

He left the dorm room, and headed to the common room. There were several Slytherins gathered in there, innocently doing homework and arguing about who they liked, and what they could do to beat the Gryffindors for the house cup. Tom almost wanted to smile at the scene. It was something that he’d never really had, not like that anyways. His group had always been busy talking down about the people around them, and discussing all kinds of horrible things. While there had been a sense of comradery, there had never been such a pleasant, friendly atmosphere amongst Tom’s so-called friends.

One of the younger Slytherins peered up at Tom. “Ah! I almost forgot!” She jumped to her feet, looking at Tom seriously. “The headmaster sent a professor by earlier to request your presence. He said he’s officially in the headmaster’s office, and wanted to give you the grand tour.” She looked proud to have passed along such an important message.

Tom nodded. “Thank you, Vivian. You wouldn’t also happen to know where Sirius and Jon went, would you?”

She shook her head. “Sorry.”

He shrugged, and reached forward to ruffle up her hair for a moment. “It’s alright. You’ve done well.” She beamed at him. She had probably come from another strict family that had not believed in complementing their children, so the praise that she got around here got soaked right up. She was lucky that she was still young enough to bounce back from life with her family. 

Since he didn’t know where Sirius and Avery had gone off to, and he did know that Dumbledore wanted to see him, he decided that it wouldn’t take too long to pay the headmaster a quick visit. He couldn’t believe how soon Dumbledore had moved into Dippet’s old office, but then again, Dumbledore was a slippery old man who always seemed to more than he was willing to let on. 

When he reached where the entrance to Dumbledore’s new office should be, he found the wall closed off instead of having an opening that would lead to the spiral staircase. He whispered the last password that Dippet had used, but nothing happened. Perhaps Dumbledore was smarter than Tom gave him credit for if he realized it was a good idea to keep himself locked up in his tower and not telling anyone the password, so that he would be safe there up above everyone else. 

Tom tried knocking on the wall, but there was still no reaction, and he had to wonder if Dumbledore thought that this was some kind of fun power play. Why else would he invite Tom here without letting on his password?

Deciding that this was a complete waste of time after all, he turned to leave. Just as he turned away, the wall moved aside, and Tom could hear the creak of the staircase moving. He sighed, but got on and let it bring him up to the top. Then he barged into the office without knocking first, and was immediately surprised by what he saw. 

The neat and tidy of Armando Dippet had been completely filled with all kinds of garbage, making the room look like a giant mess. He walked over to stand across from Dumbledore with a slight frown. “I see you’ve wasted no time in making this space your own.” He glanced at the portraits of all the previous headmasters, and noticed immediately that there was not one of Dippet.

Dumbledore smiled in a friendly way, though Tom had no doubt that the man was not planning on being amiable. “Please, take a seat Mr. Riddle.”

Tom hesitated a moment, then sat down in the seat across from Dumbledore. “Let’s not beat around the bush. What do you want?”

The headmaster’s smile only grew larger, and there was an ominous twinkle in his eye. “Is it so horrible for me to wish to speak with one of my students? Don’t forget that you’re one of Hogwart’s best and brightest, Tom. Top of your class, a prefect, and a leader among the other members of your house. I simply wanted to check in with you. I know that it must be hard to be here and continue to do so well when someone you care about is so far away.”

Tom frowned, and crossed his arms over his chest. “What would you know? I doubt that there’s anyone you care about. And anyways, that’s definitely not why you wanted to see me. You’ve got some kind of devious plan cooking in your mind, and I want to know what I have to do with it.”

Dumbledore gave a slight nod in acquiescence, and he picked up a piece of parchment that had been lying on top of his desk. “This is an essay you were assigned to write for Professor Slughorn a little while ago. You cover a very interesting topic on here. The theory that not only could one tear one’s soul apart, but they could use a potion to bind the pieces back together.”

Tom remembered that paper. It felt like he’d written it forever ago. He’d been a different person back then. He’d had much different goals. Back then, he’d been constantly afraid of his own death. But now he knew that it was far far worse to lose someone else than it was to lose oneself. “So what about it? I met all the requirements of the assignment and received a good grade on it.”

Dumbledore put the paper back down, not needing to continue holding it up for Tom to know what he was talking about. “You are an excellent student, Tom. I wonder if you would be able to actually brew the potion you wrote about.”

Tom sat up straighter in his seat. “What? Why would you want that? We don’t even know for a fact that it’s possible to tear your soul into pieces. To store parts of it somewhere safe, it’s all theory. What use could you have with a potion like that?”

For a moment, it almost seemed like the headmaster was going to answer Tom honestly. But then he remembered that this was Dumbledore, one of the sketchiest guys in the school, and the older wizard shrugged. “I’m sure I’d be able to figure out a way to make use of that. But really, just think about how useful it could be for you. If you were to brew up something like that, you’d certainly be making a name for yourself across the wizarding world. Imagine going from an orphan that hardly anyone knows about to being someone of great renown.”

That was just mean. Tom stood up abruptly, and shook his head. “Look, I get that you clearly have some kind of game going on here, but I refuse to take any part of it. I’m not going to be another one of your pawns. And I don’t know what your plans are regarding Susanna, but if you’re somehow responsible in any way for her being in Azkaban right now, then you’re going to regret that.”

The headmaster tiled his head. “Ah, Mr. Riddle, I know that you didn’t have parents growing up to teach you proper manners, but I’m certain that even you must know that it’s considered rude to threaten your elders.”

Tom clenched his jaw. That was a very low blow, and it also didn’t involve any denial of anything. “You’re a messed up old man. And maybe you’ll be lording over this school a hundred years from now, but maybe you won’t be. I thought that I knew everything about evil. Jonathon Avery is evil. Gellert Grindelwald is evil. You… you’re far worse than they are. You’ve got to be one of the most powerful wizards I’ve ever seen, but you do nothing to protect the school from all the potential threats. What are your plans? What do you hope to get out of all of this in the end?”

Dumbledore put on a faux hurt look. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Tom headed towards the door. He paused as he reached for the knob, and glanced back over his shoulder. “Dippet was a naive idiot, but at least he was a good-intentioned naive idiot.” Then he stomped out, not bothering to ride the stairs down, but rushing down instead. 

When he emerged out in the hallway below, he decided to head to the girls’ lavatory. He wasn’t sure where else to look for Myrtle, and he had no clue where Sirius had gone off to, and he knew Henry didn’t wish to speak with him. It sucked to be so hated when he was at a crucial time where he needed allies more than ever. 

For now, ignoring Dumbledore would probably be his best bet, but he wished there were someone else he could discuss this with. Tom wished Susanna were around. She’d probably know what to do. And in that was part of the problem. If he did just ignore Dumbledore, he wouldn’t be able to visit Susanna again until he was an adult. Unless he could figure out that patronus charm that had been used to protect them during their last visit.

Just as he was thinking that maybe Myrtle would know it and be able to help, since she was in Ravenclaw and Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart, he found himself walking right into a solid, living person. He shook his head, and got up from where he’d fallen onto the floor, and saw the silvery blonde hair before he saw the face of the crazy Lovegood girl. 

He offered a hand down to help her up, and she graciously accepted it. “Sorry about that. I should’ve been paying more attention to where I was going.”

She just smiled in return. “It’s alright. I was wondering what would happen. I had the feeling that if I closed my eyes and started walking, then the first person I’d bump into would be someone important. And I guess I was right. You must need help with something for me to have been guided to you like this. Did the chocolate work out alright?”

Tom paused a moment to take that in. “You were walking around the halls with your eyes closed?”

She nodded. “It’s the most efficient way of getting somewhere if you don’t know where it is that you’re supposed to be going.” When Tom peered closer, he could see a faint purpling bruise around her nose. “I may have walked into a few walls, but it’s alright. No one was seriously hurt, and I managed to find you. So what is it that you need?”

Well, since Tom had been going to ask Myrtle for help figuring out what the spell was just because she was in Ravenclaw, he decided that this girl, Miyara, who was also in Ravenclaw would have just as good a chance of knowing. “I was wondering if you know anything about a patronus charm or how to cast one.”

Miyara grinned. “Yes, that is something I know how to do.” She waved her wand, and whispered, “Expecto patronum.” A moment later, a little glowing blue bumblebee formed, and wobbled up and down in the space next to the Ravenclaw. “I don’t even have to guess what yours will be,” she said as she glanced at the serpent crest on his robes. “It’s actually fairly easy. You just have to think happy thoughts about happy times, and the memory will feed the charm.”

If it required the power of happy memories, then Tom was a bit out of luck. “Well, thank you. Oh, and the chocolate definitely did help, so thank you for that too.”

She smiled. “You have happy memories. It doesn’t matter how new or old they are, I’m sure you’ve got some. With Susanna at least, right?”

Tom closed his eyes, and thought back to that picnic they’d had. It felt like it had been a thousand years ago. He thought of the brilliant smile on Susanna’s face as she laughed at him and his gullibleness. The whole scene brought a warm feeling to his body. It was too bad that it had all been ruined. He couldn’t help it when his mind wandered to what had been afterwards, with the murder of poor Myrtle, and the warm feeling immediately became cold. 

Before he could freak out too much, there was a warm hand on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to find himself staring at Miyara. “Just the happy memory, please. You can do it. You have to, don’t you? You want to learn this so you’ll be able to get past the dementors, right?”

Tom nodded solemnly, and he closed his eyes again, letting his mind wander back to that picnic. It was probably the happiest he’d ever been in his life, not that that was saying much. This time though, as soon as the warm feeling filled him, he snapped his eyes back open again, and focused on nothing but the image of Susanna’s bright smile. That was all he needed. “Expecto patronum,” he said confidently. 

A moment later, a blue light slipped out of his wand, and both students were surprised when rather than forming into some kind of snake, a glowing blue snow leopard emerged. It was tall, reaching up almost to his hip, and let out a soft combination of a growl and a purr.

After staring at the creature for a moment, Miyara laughed. “Well. I suppose all of us are wrong sometimes.” She tilted her head. “Or perhaps not. I wonder if you would’ve found a snake in front of you if you tried this spell a few months ago.”

Tom shrugged. “I doubt I’d have been able to manage casting this one a few months ago. I don’t recall any happy memories from before Susanna came into my life. There were times I was sadistically and maliciously gleeful after causing pain to others, but I can’t recall a time when I truly felt happy. Susanna’s the only one who was able to give that to me. But yeah, I’m surprised too. I would’ve expected a snake, probably one looking like Nagini. My pet,” he clarified at Miyara’s raised eyebrows. 

The Ravenclaw just shrugged. “Well, the charm itself knows best what animal is fitted to the user. I’m sure you’ll be just fine.” The leopard disappeared a moment later as if to undermine Miyara’s statement. “You may want to practice a bit more before actually trying to go up against dementors though.” She smiled, and walked around Tom. “Nice bumping into you. If you need me again, I’ll be around.” Then she gently closed her eyes, and began casually strolling down the hallway. 

Tom winced at the loud smack he heard, and when he turned around, he saw that Miyara had just walked into another wall. She didn’t seem bothered by it though, and she just kept on walking. 

She was certainly an odd one, but Tom had few allies at the moment, and couldn’t afford to be picky. Especially when she’d actually provided him with valuable help twice now. He clutched his wand tightly, and hurried off to find a private space to practice in. Soon enough, he’d be able to see Susanna again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know that Voldemort is never seen using a patronus for pretty obvious reasons, but I figured that making Tom’s be a snake would just be way too cliche, so I took one of those random ‘what would my patronus be’ quizzes online, and answered like I was pretending to be Tom, and it gave me snow leopard, so I was just like alright then let’s roll with it. I hope no one minds


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was pretty conflicted about the patronus, but in the end I decided that Tom already has a real life snake, he doesn’t need a magical one too. And it’s nice to subvert peoples’ expectations sometimes haha. As for Miyara, originally she was just supposed to be in that one chapter where she gave Tom the chocolate, but I liked her too and decided to let her stick around. As for Dumbledore, I’ve always disliked him in Rowling’s books. He’s a creepy and manipulative guy who plays with people’s lives, and I can’t help showing my dislike for him when I’m writing. Anyways, here’s the next chapter :)

Tom could feel someone’s eyes on him, and it was totally unnerving. He rushed through the common room and into one of the boys dorms, not caring if it was the one for his year or not. He just didn’t want to be around those vultures anymore. Sometimes being in Slytherin was awesome because of the amount of loyalty that was held between Slytherins. But that loyalty could also be problematic when it wasn’t towards oneself. And besides that, Tom just hated that everyone was watching him like he’d gone and done something weird. 

He wasn’t sure how aware the other Slytherins were of everything that had gone down with Avery, but if they even knew a little bit, they’d probably be concerned and confused. Even Tom was concerned and confused. At least he no longer had to worry about staying on Dumbledore’s good side, since he’d be able to go and visit Susanna on his own, thanks to Miyara’s help. 

The sound of his name being called pulled Tom out of his thoughts, and he realized that he’d walked into the seventh year boys’ dorm. He looked around, and quickly spotted Sirius, who was looking up at him, obviously worried. “Tom? Are you alright man?” He glanced at the other two boys who were in the dorm. “Scram,” he growled menacingly. They quickly hurried out, leaving the two friends alone. “Seriously, you’re starting to scare me Tom. I brought Avery to the nurse and told him that he bumped his head. She seemed to buy it. So you’re in the clear as long as you don’t do anything else stupid.” 

Tom sighed, and sat down on Sirius’s bed. “Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I just had another encounter with that odd girl from Ravenclaw, and she was actually pretty useful. I think that I can get past the dementors to visit Susanna on my own if I had to.”

Sirius tilted his head. “Well, even if you could technically go by yourself now, wouldn’t it make more sense to have at least a single ally with you? What about Susanna’s brother? The kid seems like he could definitely afford to relax a bit sometimes, but he cares about Susanna as much as you do, and would want to see her too. Plus with someone who’s actually got a brain working with you, you might have a chance of being able to slip out of Hogwarts unnoticed. How were you planning on doing that?”

Tom frowned. He knew that Sirius was right, and that Susanna would probably very much appreciate being able to see her brother again. But he couldn’t help selfishly wanting to take up all her time. He wanted to see her by himself. He wasn’t sure what great revelations might occur in a conversation between just the two of them, but he was sure that it had to mean something. 

Suddenly, there was the sound of loud screams from the common room, and Tom couldn’t help feeling sick and tired of the fact that he never had a moment of peace because there was always something else going on. It was exhausting, but he was still a prefect and a role model, so he hurried to see what the problem was. 

One of the second years was standing in the middle of the room, reading aloud from _The Daily Prophet_ in a dramatic voice, while the other students who were gathered around let out more gasps and screams. Tom frowned, as it didn’t seem like anyone was actually hurt or in danger. 

The boy who was reading looked up as soon as Tom walked in. “Oh, uh, I wasn’t… I mean… there’s nothing dangerous going on. These idiots just don’t know how to handle a little bit of the news, that’s all. I don’t…”

Tom pushed through the small crowd, and grabbed the paper right out of the younger boy’s hands. “Some people are trying to study and get homework done and you’re causing a disruption from them. If you want to stay caught up with the current events, then do it where you won’t be so bothersome to everybody else.” Then he hurried away, back to where Sirius was waiting in the entrance to his dorm room. He raised one eyebrow curiously, and Tom shrugged. “Some idiot was apparently reading ‘scary’ articles from the paper.” He glanced down to see what exactly had been read to make those annoying girls start screaming like that. 

He quickly skimmed the article, and his frown deepened the longer he stared at the small print. Gellert Grindelwald had been spotted in Hogsmeade of all places, and soon after that sighting, there had been several other reports of him all over the wizarding world, within the same day. Some even appeared to be at the same time. There had yet to be any injuries or deaths in the places he was seen in, but it was still a frightening thought to think that he could possibly be everywhere at once. 

Sirius grabbed the paper to read it for himself, and he furrowed his eyebrows. “This guy doesn’t even sound like he’s trying to hurt anyone. It just sounds like he’s dicking around.”

Tom nodded slowly. “I know. It’s very strange.” He wondered what the dark wizard was up to. And then he thought of his chance encounter with Grindelwald back during the trial, and he couldn’t help feeling a shiver run up his spine. The man was a bit scary, even to Tom. But he was also very fascinating. What the hell was he up to?

,,,

Susanna’s eyes widened in delight. “Grandfather!” She rushed to the bars to reached her arms through so that they could exchange a hug, though the cold metal between them stopped them from forgetting where they were. After a moment, Susanna leaned back. “What are you doing here? You said that I’d have three months.”

Her grandfather, who looked hardly a decade older than Susanna thanks to his powerful magic, crossed his arms over his chest and gave Susanna a stern look. “I know. And I’m still angry with myself for having agreed to that. But since what’s done is done, I do plan on keeping my word. I’m not going to drag you out here and force you to be a fugitive. But I had to come see you. I’ve missed our correspondence. It’s unfair that they don’t allow prisoners to send and receive letters from here. Maybe they just don’t want to go through the hassle of trying to check every single letter for secret magical items that could help one escape.” He tilted his head. “The man you guessed to be the heir of Gryffindor, Emery Watson, is dead. I know he was kept in a different area than this, so you probably didn’t see the body get dragged away, but it was in the news. The infamous Gringott’s thief is dead. Whether he was the heir or not, there’s no longer any point in you being in here.”

Susanna frowned. “No matter what other pretense I use, no matter what I claim to do or what I deny, I know that this is where I belong. I deserve this punishment. And I deserve the madness that will come to me as soon as that potion of yours wears away. Just leave me to rot in peace.”

Grindelwald stubbornly shook his head. “I could never do that, beloved granddaughter.” He looked at her curiously. “Though I was wondering about something. I saw a strange person leaving just as I was coming in, but there were no ministry officials to be found. Who else do you have visiting you without permission?”

Susanna shrugged. “No one of consequence. Or maybe just someone who’s as confused and lost as I am. It makes no difference. They won’t get anything out of me. Besides, I know that you already know who it was.”

The older wizard nodded in acquiescence. “That’s true. I suppose a more appropriate question would be ‘why was that vile, wretched person visiting you?’ It seems so risky, to potentially be caught. Everyone would realize that they’ve been alive all along, and for what? What do they want with you?”

There was a moment of silence as Susanna paused to think, and that’s when she realized that there was something wrong with the scene before her. There were no dementors in sight, but there was also no patronus charm anywhere. What was keeping them away. She looked at her grandfather with wide eyes. “What did you do?” 

He shrugged. “There aren’t many ways to sneak into a place like this. So I brought along a distraction. I’ve had people charmed to wear my face running all around to keep the ministry busy, and I brought a snack for the dementors to keep them busy. Just a piece of garbage for them to feed on. No one who will be missed.” He ignored Susanna’s disapproving frown, and returned to their previous topic. “But what do you mean about you deserving to be in here?”

Susanna clenched her jaw. “No matter what anybody says, Emilia’s death is my fault. I should’ve been locked up in here as soon as it happened. She was just a child, and I should’ve been able to act like a proper adult.”

Grindelwald narrowed his eyes. “You were only eleven! That’s not even close to being an adult, and nobody expected you to act like one. And besides, how the hell could you have known that she would try and find you? It’s not like you told her to jump out in front of a car!” He stepped closer. “And if you think that your Tom Riddle hasn’t done plenty of bad things himself…” He shrugged. “Hell, you know what a monster I am, but I don’t hear you calling for me to be locked up!” Grindelwald sighed, and his shoulders slumped forward. “I just don’t understand you, Susanna. Don’t get me wrong, when you found me, I don’t think I’d ever been happier until that moment. But that doesn’t make things different. I know that you haven’t just decided to ignore all the things that I’ve done, have you?”

Susanna frowned. “I’m determined to stay here. I need to accept the consequences for what I’ve done. I just…” she hesitated for a moment before continuing with her request. “Do you think that you could somehow pass a message to Tom?” Grindelwald didn’t respond to that at all, so Susanna just kept talking. If there was a way, then would you possibly be able to let him know that I don’t want him coming back here again? This isn’t a place that someone good like him should be in. And I don’t care what you think, I know that Tom is good. Maybe he did unsavory things before we met, but that’s in the past. I don’t want him anywhere near here.”

There was a moment of silence before the old wizard spoke again. “And what about your brother? Do you not want him coming here to be ‘tainted’ by you either?” He frowned. “Don’t you realize that regardless of whether you think you should be in here or not, your being here is what’s letting your best friend’s murderer walk free?”

Susanna shrugged. “I’ve been told that Myrtle’s a ghost in Hogwarts now. In a way, that’s almost like she’s still alive, isn’t it? That means that once I do get out of here in fifty years I can go and see her.”

“Haven’t you paid attention to anything I’ve said? I’m getting you out of here the second that potion runs out. I don’t care if that’s not what you want, I just know that it’s for the best.” There was a spine-tingling growl from the other end of the hallway, and Grindelwald sighed. “I’ve got to get out of here for now. I’ll be back soon though. Don’t speak with that disgusting person ever again.” He frowned. “And I’ll see what I can do about getting a message to your precious guy.”

Susanna nodded gratefully. “Thank you grandfather. You really do mean a lot to me.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Could you tell him to just get over me? I mean, we were only really together for like a day, so it’s best for everyone if he just moves on. There’s plenty of other fish in the sea and all that.”

Grindelwald grunted, and left without another word. Within moments of his disappearance, several dementors swept down the hallway. They were slightly less intimidating than usual, if only because they’d already gotten something to eat. Susanna didn’t even want to think of the poor soul who’d been sacrificed just so that Susanna could see her grandfather for a few minutes. 

Once the dementors split apart and went back to their usual patrols, Susanna could hear someone laughing from the cell across from hers. She peered over, and saw a ragged man covered in dirt, with torn clothes. He looked up and met her eyes. “Oi, I hate to make judgements or anything, but you’re definitely the most interesting person on the block. That was Gellert Grindelwald who was just here, and you clearly called him ‘grandfather’. On top of that is your mysterious cloaked visitor who sounds like a spiteful bastard and apparently faked their death, and a couple of Hogwarts students visiting you along with a teacher and a ministry official. Honestly, if you wanted privacy, you should have quieter conversations. But I suppose you’ve just assumed that everyone around here is already crazy beyond comprehension. You’d be wrong about that. The name’s Ardin, by the way. You’re Susanna, right? That’s what I’ve heard your visitors call you.”

Susanna stared across the hall suspiciously. “If you’re still sane, why haven’t you tried to speak with me sooner? Isn’t that one way to stay sane?”

Ardin shrugged. “I thought it would be more interesting to just observe. Hey, if you pass me your last piece of chocolate, then I’ll offer you something pretty sweet in return.”

“How do you know I’ve only got one piece left? And what could you possibly offer me from within here?”

The other inmate chuckled. “I’ve been paying attention, like I said. And what I can offer you, dear lady, is escape. Not only from this physical prison itself, but also from those memories that plague you. I don’t know what exactly the deal is, but from what I’ve seen, you were thrown in here for a murder you didn’t commit as your own personal penance for a different murder that you also didn’t commit. Does that sound about right? Well, I’ll have you know that I’m an expert with memory charms. I can make it so you won’t know a thing about the bits of your past that hurt the most.”

Susanna frowned. “But then I wouldn’t be getting punished for what I’ve done. And how could you cast any charms while we’re in here, anyways? You don’t have a wand on you, or you’d have made a break for it ages ago.” 

Ardin grinned. “Just leave that to me, dear lady. All you have to do is toss me that bit of chocolate. And then I promise you that you’ll get your escape. And I’ll get mine too, of course. Once we’re out of here, you can go wherever you want, do whatever you want, be whoever you want, without the baggage of your history weighing you down.”

Susanna didn’t actually believe a word that the other prisoner was saying. He had to be completely insane. But his words would provide some sanity for her if they could keep talking, and she didn’t want to risk losing that. So she grabbed the last square of chocolate she had left, went over to the bars, and tossed it as hard as she could. It landed a couple feet away from Ardin’s cell, but he was able to lie flat on his stomach and stretch his arm out just far enough to grab the crumpled wrapper. 

He pulled it towards himself, and stashed it somewhere in his cell rather than eating it immediately. “Ah, excellent. You don’t know how happy this makes me, dear lady.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just stop calling me that. Like you already know, my name’s Susanna.”

Ardin bowed his head forward, looking amused. “Very well then, Susanna. We shall be out of here soon enough. For now, you should get some rest.”

Susanna climbed onto her gross cot, and curled up beneath the single thin blanket that she had in her possession. Sleep was nearly impossible in Azkaban, as every dream would be filled with cold darkness and nothing else. The chocolate had been able to help soothe her mind and give her pleasant dreams for once, but she’d just given away her last night of nice dreams to the crazy guy across the hall. 

She shivered as she thought through everything that had happened to her lately. From going on a lovely picnic with Tom, to having her best friend murdered, to being arrested for said murder, to letting everyone know that her grandfather was someone widely feared and hated, to abandoning Tom and Henry, to meeting that awful visitor, to acknowledging she needed to pay for getting her little sister killed, and finally, to giving up her last bit of comfort. She had never once pictured her life going this way, but here she was.


	33. Chapter 33

Tom paced back and forth down the hallway, ignoring the strange looks that the other students were giving him. The few who were brave enough to actually try talking to him were immediately barked at to leave him alone, and none of them were stupid enough to try and ignore that kind of warning. He felt that he would be content to pace this hallway forever if he had to.

Fortunately, it was nothing so dramatic, and Tom was disturbed from his brooding thoughts by a hand landing softly on his shoulder. “You seem troubled.”

Tom turned around to face them, and saw the familiar silvery hair and dazed eyes of Miyara Lovegood. “Yeah, no shit. My life is falling apart around me, and there’s nothing that I can do to stop it, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing right now. What the hell are you doing here, anyways?”

Miyara shrugged. “I followed the trail of lastabloots to find you here-”

Tom threw her hand away. “Cut the bull. Why are you really here?”

Miyara blinked a few times, but didn’t seem to be bothered by the foul language. Then again, she didn’t seem capable of being bothered by much at all. “Like I said, it was the lastabloots. They cling to the sweat of troubled souls, marking out an easy trail.”

Tom wanted to yell and throw things and kick up a big fuss to try and get out some of his frustration, but he knew that it would be completely useless to try yelling at this girl. And she was one of the few people actually trying to help him, so he’d only be injuring his own cause if he alienated her now. “You don’t actually believe in all that crap, do you?”

The Ravenclaw smiled. “Belief is quite the wonderful tool. It can bring ideas to life like nothing else.”

That didn’t really answer Tom’s question, but he figured that it was probably the best he was going to get out of the strange girl. She was still dressed oddly beneath her robes, with a bright yellow turtleneck and pinstripe trousers. He also wanted to question why she was really allowed to walk around wearing whatever the hell she wanted, but he figured that he wouldn’t get a straight answer to that either. 

“Hey, I have a question for you. You’re kind of crazy, right? So you’d probably be able to interpret someone else’s crazy the best?”

Miyara shrugged. “Only if we’re the same type of crazy, I would imagine.”

Tom ignored that, and reached into the pocket of his robes to pull out the crumpled up note that Susanna had slipped to him from her cell. “Here. What do you think this means?”

Miyara hummed under her breath as her eyes scanned over the words, and then she read it again aloud. “‘The darkness that fills the room scares me just as much as you’. Quite fascinating, really. Where did you get this?”

Tom sighed. If it were anyone else he’d be hesitant to answer, but he weirdly felt like he could trust Miyara even though he barely knew her at all. She had already helped him out twice, after all. “Susanna gave it to me when I went to visit her in prison.”

That made a small frown appear on Miyara’s face. “Well that just can’t be right. This isn’t Susanna’s handwriting. She once dropped a homework assignment, and I picked it up for her. This is not even close to being the same. She might have given it to you, but she didn’t write it.”

Tom threw his hands up in frustration. “Well, I guess she didn’t claim to have written it. But if someone else wrote this, then who was it? And how would Susanna have gotten it? And why would she have given it to me? What does it mean? You have to be able to figure out something, right?”

Miyara laughed. “I think it’s serving it’s purpose quite well.” Before Tom could actually beg her to explain what she meant, she continued talking. “I believe that this note is meant to serve as a distraction. While you’re running around and trying to figure out everything about it that you can, you’ll be completely oblivious to the other happenings of the time.”

Would Susanna really do that? Send him some piece of garbage just to wind him up and watch him go? No, she wasn’t a cruel person. So if it really was a distraction, then it was probably meant to keep his attention away from something that could potentially harm him. Susanna had gone through all the trouble of letting herself be thrown in prison to save Tom, so perhaps this note was just yet another tactic to try and save him. That would be just like Susanna, wouldn’t it? To be doing her best to look out for others even after being fated to rot away in prison?

“Do you have any idea of what the real happening might be?”

Miyara shrugged as she handed back the note. “I’m afraid that I’m not well enough acquainted with Susanna to try making guesses about her motivations. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of more assistance. If you need me for anything else, I’ll be around.” Then she turned and wandered away, walking carelessly into several people as she went.

Tom wasn’t ready to completely discount the note, but he couldn’t help thinking that Miyara’s explanation for it did make sense. But while that answered one question, it still left him with others. What did Susanna think was so bad that she needed to protect him from it? And who was the mysterious visitor that the ministry official had mentioned? And why did someone who’d started off seeming like a perfectly innocent girl suddenly turn into someone with an entire lifetime of secrets?

Unfortunately, Susanna was probably the only one who would actually be able to answer any of that. But maybe he could at least go for the next best thing, which would be Henry. He knew Susanna better than anyone, so perhaps he’d have some idea of what was going on. Or better yet, maybe Susanna had slipped her brother a note as well, but one that made a bit more sense.

Determined to actually get some answer, Tom started off towards the library. He knew that it was the most likely place to find Henry, and he was feeling a bit rushed. Even though technically he had fifty years to figure things out, if he didn’t figure it out soon, Avery would eventually graduate Hogwarts and head out into the world to cause all kinds of damage. And Tom didn’t want Susanna to be stuck in Azkaban for a single moment longer than she had to be.

As he walked, he heard a soft hooting, and as he looked up, an unfamiliar owl hovered above him just long enough to drop an envelope onto the floor in front of him, and then it took off. Frowning at the strange occurrence, Tom picked up the envelope to carefully inspect it. It was addressed to ‘the damn lovesick fool’ and then on the second line clarified ‘Tom M. Riddle’. Why was a strange owl delivering letters to him, though? He didn’t recognize the handwriting. And he didn’t know anyone stupid enough to call him a fool. 

He carefully opened the envelope, ready to fling it away if anything bad started to come out. But it seemed to just have a single piece of folded over parchment in it. Tom pulled it out, shoving the empty envelope into his pocket. _S is a stubborn brat for sure. She wants you to get over her because there’s other fish in the sea. But we both know that there’s no one in the world just like her, which means we need to work together to save her from herself. She believes that she deserves penance for a crime she did not commit. It is unfortunate, but noble. Be on the lookout, more letters to come. -G.G._

Tom paused midstep as he reached the initials signed at the bottom of the letter. This had to be from Grindelwald. He’d somehow gotten in to see Susanna, and she’d asked him to write Tom and tell him to just give up on her. But apparently Grindelwald wasn’t fond of the idea, and wanted to bust her out just as much as Tom did. It was frightening, but it seemed as though Tom had found himself yet another ally. 

,,,

Susanna tried her best to peer into the cell across the hall from her, but the limited light made it difficult. Unless the prisoners sat or stood directly in front of the bars, it could be nearly impossible to see anything beyond shadows inside each cell. So it didn’t necessarily mean anything that she couldn’t see her supposed new partner at all.

She had thought that it would be safest for them to not discuss their potential future escape when they would have to shout across the hall at each other, but it had been too long spent in silence now. The chocolate must’ve lasted only a short time, and Ardin had gone crazy like everyone else in this place.

But she had to know for sure before she gave up on him. She had given him the last piece of chocolate that she had, which meant that she was back to her restless sleep and bad dreams. It would suck if that had been for nothing. “Ardin! Hey! It’s been three days since we last talked, and I’m starting to feel a little impatient over here!” There was no response, and no sign of movement in the other cell.

Susanna let out a sigh of annoyance, and slumped down onto her cot, resigning herself to the idea that Ardin had either gone insane, or had just completely died. Either way, he was of no use to her. And it was some kind of fairy tale anyways, the idea that she could just forget about everything she’d done and go on with her life like nothing had happened. Emilia deserved better than that.

She closed her eyes, ready to try and force herself into taking at least a short nap because she needed all the energy she could get in this draining place. But she was disrupted by the sound of soft footsteps, and when she got up to walk closer to the bars, she could see a glowing blue blob getting closer. When it was near enough, she could see that it was in the shape of a little cat. So her visitor had returned yet again. When were they going to learn?

There was a scraping noise as the visitor dragged a chair down the hallway, until they finally left it in front of Susanna’s cell, and they sat down. The patronus cat jumped onto their lap, and let itself be pet. “I told you that I’d be back.”

Susanna nodded once. “I know. I told you that I believed you about that. Unfortunately, I don’t have any more information for you now than I did during our last pleasant little chat. Sorry, but I don’t think I’m going to be of any help to you. Ever. so if you could just stop coming around this way and bothering me over stupid stuff, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks.”

The visitor scoffed. “You think you’re so brave and strong and stubborn, but in this place, everyone breaks eventually. Now do you want to tell me why you’re really here? Or will you be more ready to talk next week?”

Susanna shrugged. “I’m not really sure, you’ll have to check with my secretary.”

The stranger did look almost amused by Susanna’s one way banter. They reached into the pocket of their robe, and plucked out a chocolate bar. They broke it in half, and tossed one half into the cell next to Susanna. Even though it landed on the floor, Susanna carefully picked it up, then turned around so she could put it on her cot. As tempting as it was to scarf it down now, she knew that it would be more useful to save it until after there wasn’t any patronus animals around her.

She made a nondescript grunting noise instead of saying thank you, but it seemed that the stranger understood anyways. “You know, I really only want to help you. You of all people surely can’t doubt how much I care about you.”

Susanna shrugged. “It’s hard to say for sure. Grandfather called you a vile wretched creature that I should do my best to never talk to. And I really can’t help but feel the same way about you. You’re the kind of abomination that would be shown in a horror film. You are aware of that, aren’t you? I’m glad that you wear that hood, because it would disgust me to have to look at your face.” After a moment, she added, “But of course you know how much I care about you, darling.”

The visitor shook their head. “We’re getting a little off topic here. No one cares how well we get along or how much we like each other. All that matters is the truth. You know that I won’t leave you alone until you give it to me. So just tell me. It won’t do a single thing to change your situation now, but you’d be helping me so much. And you did always like helping me, didn’t you?”

Susanna frowned, and looked down at her hands. “You already know exactly why I’m here,” she said softly. “You don’t need me to say it.”

The visitor leaned forward so that their elbows were pressing into their knees. “Yes, but it would make me feel so much better. I just want to hear the words out of your mouth. That’s all. That’s not really so much to ask, is it? I don’t think that it is. I don’t think I’m expecting too much from you. So why don’t you just open your mouth and tell me what we both know has been on your mind for far too long.”

Susanna did open her mouth, and she could feel the words just on the tip of her tongue. But then she swallowed them down and chose to say nothing. “No. You don’t deserve to get anything from me, not even a confession. All you need to know is what I’ve told you before. I’m a killer, and I’m exactly where I belong.”

The frustrated groan from the visitor felt unnecessarily satisfying to Susanna. “But who did you kill? What specifically did you do to end up here? Why won’t you just say it? We both know the truth! Just tell me already!”

Her grandfather had warned her to stay away from this creature, and she found herself agreeing with his warning. The person standing before her was quite pitiful, and they had no power. They’d waited until Susanna was behind bars and incapable of fighting back before they’d even bothered trying to confront her. It felt like a cowardly thing to do.

The stranger got up and stomped over so that they were standing less than an inch away from the cell bars. They tossed the other half of the chocolate bar inside, and it bounced off of the top of Susanna’s head. “I’m going to get the truth out of you yet. I’ll get it out of you if it kills me,” they warned.

Susanne shrugged, and though she smiled, she knew that it had to be an unhappy looking smile. “Why? You’re really that eager for a repeat performance?”

The stranger growled. “I’m not eager for anything but the truth out of you.” They’re voice took on a pleading tone. “Please, just say it. I need to hear it. I need you to tell me why you’re in here. The real reason why you’re in here. Just say it, and I’ll leave you alone forever, I promise. I’ll never come back and visit you again. Or I’ll even offer to pass along a message to your little boytoy. I’ll do whatever you want. Just please tell me why you’re here right now. That’s all I want to know.”

Was it cruel of Susanna to withhold such a little thing from them? They were the last person that she wanted to tell about her real reasons for staying in this little cell. They were the one who would take it the worst way. They were the one who’d never really understand. They were the one who would hate Susanna the most for the truth. 

Before she could decide to actually say what they wanted to hear, a rough male voice came from across the hall. “Hey, leave the little lady alone!”

The visitor whipped around to peer into Ardin’s cell. “I beg your pardon? Who the hell are you?”

Ardin held himself tall as he stood in front of the bars of his cell. “I’m the one who’s got a plan, and you’re the one who’s nothing but a pain in the arse. Honestly, why would you think that the poor girl would want to tell you everything when all you do is act like a complete nuisance? Don’t you have any sense of shame? Just who do you think you are?”

The visitor clenched their jaw, clearly looking unhappy. “It doesn’t matter who I am. The only relevant person to this conversation is already aware of my identity and what I want from her. You have no business interfering.”

Ardin didn’t look at all impressed by the posturing. “Looks like you’re little kitty is running out of juice. You might want to book it before you find yourself trapped in here with those shadows, just like the rest of us.”

Just like he’d said, the visitor’s patronus did seem to losing strength, and that’s what alarmed them the most. “Fine. I’ll leave for now.” They turned back to Susanna. “But sooner or later you’re going to tell me what I want to here. And if I can’t wait until this place breaks you down enough, then I’ll just have to do a little bit of breaking of my own, understand?”

“Perfectly,” Susanna drawled. “See you later.”

The visitor hurried away, dragging the chair with them, which made a loud and obnoxious scraping noise against the ground as they ran. Then Susanna looked over at Ardin, who was staring at her with his eyebrows raised. “Your guest is a bit of an annoyance, eh?”

Susanna crossed her arms over her chest. “What the hell was that? I thought that you’d died in there, or worse. Why didn’t you say anything when I called out to you?”

Ardin shrugged, and rolled his shoulders a few times. “It takes a lot of energy to be sane in a place like this. I’m amazed that you’re doing so well yourself. It mostly involves me hiding away in my head whenever possible, so that the horrors of this place can’t get to me. So I wasn’t available when you called. I’m truly sorry, my lady.”

Susanna narrowed her eyes. “Sounds to me like something a crazy person would do.”

“Perhaps it is. But if being a little crazy is what will keep me sane, then I’ll accept it in a heartbeat. Now are you ready to discuss our escape plan before I run out of energy over here?”

Susanna sighed, then nodded. “Alright. Let’s talk.”


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to just bring all of my stories on a03 completely up to date so that when i ask for reader feedback it won't arrive too late to be useful haha.

Tom had searched for Henry for days now, but he wasn’t able to find the Ravenclaw boy anywhere. All the people he asked gave vague non-answers, and he wasn’t in any of his usual haunts. Though the only usual haunt Tom knew about was the library, so Henry could very well be somewhere quite obvious. It only made Tom even more determined to find him, though, and maybe even to get to know him better. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for them to be friends. Maybe it would help keep Tom from getting lonely for the next fifty years-

No, Tom was going to figure out how to spring Susanna long before that. He’d make sure that Avery was properly punished for what he’d done, since Susanna wouldn’t want him to pick a random scapegoat, and then everything would be fixed. He just needed to find Henry first to try and make that happen. 

Strangely enough, it was Henry who found him first. It was brave of the boy to actually be waiting around in the dungeons considering how much the other Slytherins disliked him, but he supposed that it was a logical move. No one other than Slytherins knew exactly where the entrance to their house was, but everyone knew that it was somewhere in the dungeons. Tom applauded the boy on his smart thinking, and wondered why he hadn’t thought of camping outside the Ravenclaw common room.

He cleared his throat, feeling awkward around Henry even though they had come to a partial truce when they’d gone to visit Susanna. “What are you doing here? I mean, I’ve been looking for you forever, and now you just kinda show up, even though I thought you pretty much hated my guts-”

“I do,” Henry interrupted. “Hate you, that is. You’re a horrible person who continues to hang around with liars and murderers even after what they did to Myrtle and Susanna, and even the headmaster. I admit that I have no idea what Susanna sees in you. But Dumbledore just called me to his office to tell me something very important and dramatic, and I thought that you might want to hear it.”

When he didn’t elaborate on what it was Tom might want to hear, Tom sighed. “Are you going to tell me, or…?”

Henry shrugged. “I’ll tell you. But only if you create an unbreakable vow with me.”

Tom’s eyes widened. “What? Are you crazy? Are you trying to get us both killed? While admittedly I’m very good with my wandwork, you need a third party to cast one of those. And we’re way too young to make one so lightly.”

Henry narrowed his eyes, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh believe me, I’m not making it lightly. I just want you to vow that you will never physically hurt any innocent person. I’ll vow the same thing in exchange, though I think that it goes without saying in my case.”

Hearing the parameters of the vow didn’t make Tom feel any better about the idea. “So not only do you want to make an unbreakable vow with me, but you want it to be one that has no definite time limit? The terms of that vow will follow us for the entire rest of our lives!”

“I know,” Henry said confidently. “But unless you were planning on harming innocent people at any point in your life, I don’t see why it would be an issue anyways.”

Technically Henry had a point there. And Tom had already promised Susanna that he was a changed man. But the idea of just taking away that option entirely seemed so disappointing. And what qualified a person as ‘innocent’ anyways? Did it mean that they’d never taken a life? Or that they’d never attacked anyone? Or never said a cuss? Or never had sex? There were so many different ways to interpret that, and if he didn’t know Henry’s interpretation of it, he could end up finding himself in an early grave. 

But he did want to know what Henry had been told by the headmaster, and he did want to gain back Henry’s trust so that they could work together to free Susanna. So even though it seemed like too big of a risk, Tom nodded once. “Fine. Let’s do it then, right now. I know who we can get to cast the spell for us.”

Henry raised his eyebrows, seemingly surprised that Tom had agreed so easily. Maybe he didn’t really understand how desperately Tom cared about Susanna. Tom didn’t care to stop and explain it, either. He just wanted to get it over with so that he could carry on with making plans that might actually be useful.

Tom turned around and went right back into the Slytherin common room, motioning for Henry to stay where he was. He found Sirius lounging on his bed, flipping through the pages of one of his textbooks. “You’re back soon. Did you forget your bag or something?”

Tom shook his head, and took the textbook from Sirius, folding down the corner of the page before closing it and putting it aside. “No. I need your help with something. Do you know anything about the spell needed to create an unbreakable vow?”

Sirius arched one eyebrow, but he’d been Tom’s best friend for long enough that these seemingly random questions didn’t throw him off balance anymore. “Yeah. I was there when my aunt made my uncle make a vow that he’d never cheat on her, and I was there ten years later when my uncle suddenly dropped dead. That’s when I looked into the vows, to find out more about them. Why?”

“I need you to be the caster between Henry and me. Come on.” He didn’t even wait for his friend to agree, he just got up and left and had faith that Sirius would be following close behind him. 

They both emerged into the hallway, and found Henry waiting exactly where he’d been told to wait, and he had a rather unimpressed look on his face. “Really? You trust a Slytherin purist to be in charge of something that will affect us for the entire rest of our lives?”

Tom glanced back at Sirius for just a moment before looking at Henry. “I’d trust him with my life.” He ignored the giddy look that passed over Sirius’ face in response to that declaration. “Now let’s find an empty classroom or something, and just get this over with.”

It took a surprisingly short amount of time for Tom to finish swearing to uphold his end of the vow, and then he winced as the bright white lines crossed over his and Henry’s clasped arms, twining them together and binding their promises into their very souls. And then it was over, just like that, and Tom found that he felt exactly the same as before. 

Since Sirius had been good enough to do the spell for them, Tom magnanimously decided to let him stick around and here whatever information Henry had to share with them. “So what was so important that Dumbledore had to tell you about it himself?”

Henry took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. “He said that it might be in the papers soon, but that he wanted me to hear about it from him first.” He frowned as he tried to figure out the best way to say what he was thinking. “It’s about Susanna. She’s broken out of prison.”

,,,

If Susanna had known that breaking out of Azkaban would result in so much tramping around in the woods like some kind of hippie spirit, she might’ve reconsidered the idea before going through with it. But on the other hand, getting to breath in fresh air, and not constantly worry that today would be her last day to hold onto her soul, was really really nice. 

When Ardin had first explained his plan, Susanna had thought for sure that he really was just another crazy person, like everyone else who’d been stuck among the dementors for too long. Even with the protection she was under, Susanna found herself going a little nuts sometimes, so she still had no idea how Ardin had maintained any semblance of sanity without any kind of help. 

But in the end his plan had worked, so even if he was a crazy person, he was at the very least an intelligent crazy person. And who better to wander around the woods with than a smart whacko?

Ardin glanced back at Susanna when he realized that she’d lagged behind him. “You’re really slow, you know that?”

Susanna shrugged. “I haven’t really had many opportunities to just hike around. And the prison robes I’m wearing are unsurprisingly more difficult to walk around in than your pants. Honestly, it’s so sexist.”

Ardin nodded a few times, a serious look on his face. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. What institutions are there that aren’t sexist?”

The man rolled his eyes. “No, not about that. Not that I’m denying the sexism, but it’s not what I’m talking about. You’re right about your dress being inconvenient. We’ll need to fix that. Hope you don’t mind a few tears in this very chic outfit.”

Susanna held her arms up, away from her body, in a gesture to let Ardin know that he was free to do what he wanted with the uncomfortable material. He reached for a point around Susanna’s knees, and a moment later, there was a loud tear, and then suddenly Susanna could feel cool air rushing all around her legs. It was actually a nice feeling, since all the walking around had gotten her pretty overheated. 

Though she did find it strange to watch Ardin tuck the torn off piece of cloth into his own pocket. When he noticed her curious look, he just shrugged. “Right now we’re running low on just about everything necessary to survival as far as mankind knows, and we can’t afford to lose a single possible advantage. You never know what kind of use we’ll find out of this stuff. It’s best to just hold onto it. It doesn’t weigh much anyways, so it really isn’t a big deal at all.”

Susanna shrugged. “Fine, whatever. I can understand the logic of your argument, however, I do think that you should just accept that it’s at least a little weird, and then we can move on.” After they’d walked for a while longer, Susanna couldn’t help it when her stomach growled loudly, and her face flushed bright red with embarrassment. “Wherever we’re headed, are we almost there? And is there anything to eat there?”

Ardin laughed. “Yes, there will be food. I’m not stupid enough to think that we could ever possibly live off the land with our very limited knowledge. Or at least, I’m assuming your knowledge on the subject is limited. It’s alright though, since I don’t really care. I just want to survive, and I promise that both of us will. And if we keep going at our current pace, we should be there in a little over an hour.”

Susanna groaned at the thought of having to walk for that much longer without any food or water. But she’d been the one who’d made the decision to make a run for it, so she was the one who was going to have to live with the consequences of that decision. She could only hope that it would lead to greater things in the future. Ardin had promised her that he’d be able to help her forget about the guilt that plagued her mind, and she couldn’t imagine any better salvation in the world than that. 

Though when her stomach rumbled loudly again, she figured that maybe a small meal might be better salvation. She reserved the right to change her mind on that matter whenever she felt like it. Even as she thought that, Susanna realized that her thoughts seemed to be jumbled all over the place, and she wondered if she was somehow going more insane outside of that prison than she had been inside. She decided not to risk saying anything about it and being left behind. 

It was starting to get dark out by the time Ardin slowed to a stop, and grinned widely. “We’re here.”

Susanna peered past him, and saw nothing but more woods. Well, she’d clearly thrown her rag in with the wrong lot. Oh well. All there was left to do now was wander around these unfamiliar trees until she withered away. “Thanks for nothing,” she muttered before turning to leave.

Ardin quickly grabbed her arm, though it wasn’t a very tight grip. “Are you already forgetting that we’re in a world full of magic? Not every hideaway has to be right out in the open where any old asshole could wander in. It’s got to be protected to make sure that people like us, who really really need it, are the only ones who are able to get in.”

They both walked closer to whatever mysterious destination Ardin had in mind, until he pointed to a particularly wide tree. “You remember platform nine and three-quarters, right? This is basically the same type of thing. Just step through it, and you’ll be on the other side. I’ll go first so you know you can trust me, and then you need to follow as quickly as possible. This isn’t a safe place for anyone to be alone in.”

Susanna had so many questions, like how Ardin knew about this safe place, or why there was a safe place in the woods, or what made the woods dangerous only for people who were traveling alone. But before she could ask any of that, Ardin took several steps back, and then dashed forward, straight for the tree. If it was a normal tree, then he was sure to at least break his nose, but possibly be hurt even worse.

But it looked like he had been telling the truth, because instead of a loud and messy impact with the solid trunk of a tree, Ardin disappeared. Susanna still wasn’t comfortable with this, but she’d already made the decision to trust Ardin when she’d run away with him, so now she had no choice but to follow through. She took a few steps back, then ran for the tree, bracing for impact. At least platform nine and three-quarters was usually accessed while pushing a little trolley, which meant that in the strange case of a malfunction, no one would be seriously injured.

Luck was on Susanna’s side, though, and she went right through the tree as though it weren’t even there. She’d squeezed her eyes shut without even meaning too once she’d gotten close to the tree, but now that she knew she’d gotten through it successfully, she forced herself to open them and look around. 

Ardin grinned proudly. “So, what do you think?”

They were standing in the entranceway to a nice looking little cabin, and Susanna found herself amazed by some of the things that magic could accomplish when people really put their minds to it. “This is incredible. But how do-” she was interrupted by the sound of her own stomach’s gurgling. 

Ardin laughed, and motioned for Susanna to follow him down a small hallway. She did, and they arrived in a quaint little kitchen. Ardin went over to the pantry, and opened it to pull out a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. “Don’t worry, all of the storage units in this kitchen were charmed to keep everything in them nice and fresh.” That was a relief to hear, considering the thick layer of dust that covered so many of the surfaces in the room. 

It didn’t take long to put together a couple sandwiches for each of them, and they both scarfed them down like they hadn’t eaten in days, followed by a couple glasses of nice and crisp milk. When they were done eating, Susanna leaned back in her seat and smiled contentedly. “I think that that might very well be the best meal I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.”

Ardin snorted. “No matter what food I’d pulled out, you would’ve said that.” He stacked their plates in the sink, and then headed out of the room, leaving Susanna to trot along after him. He went up the stairs to the second floor, and motioned down the hallway. “Pick whichever room you want. They’re all the same. You should be able to find something more comfortable in one of the wardrobes.”

Susanna went into the first room she saw, and when she opened one of the drawers of the dresser, she saw that it was full of the kind of muggle style clothing she was used to. Pleased by that, she pulled out a fairly simple skirt and blouse combination, which she quickly changed into. Having been fed, watered, and changed, Susanna felt much better, and she wondered why she had never thought of escaping prison sooner.


	35. Chapter 35

Tom leapt up and looked at Henry like the boy had just grown a couple of extra heads. He might’ve even punched the Ravenclaw, but Sirius suddenly moved forward to gently grab Tom’s arm, and tug him back over to his chair. Once they were all seated, Tom forced himself to take several deep breaths, and then he looked at Henry. “Please tell me that I just had some kind of weird hallucination, and you did not just say what I think you just said.”

Henry narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest, then shook his head. “I wish that I could tell you that. But it’s the truth. Susanna broke out.”

“But why would she do that?” Tom muttered, mostly to himself. “She’s the one who begged to be locked away in the first place. She’s the one who wanted me to lie on the stand so that she could be put away. She’s the one who acted like some kind of maniac during the trial so that everyone would believe that she was guilty. Why would she go through all of that trouble just to break out and be on the run from the law?”

While he muttered to himself, ignoring the fact that it made him sound slightly crazy, Sirius cleared his throat. “How did she get out, anyways? Did Dumbledore say? Because Azkaban is supposed to be a pretty escape-proof place.”

That was something Tom hadn’t even thought about. Susanna was smart and resourceful, and in his mind that was enough of an explanation for her escape. Though he supposed that it would be interesting to at least hear about how it was done. Henry frowned, though. “Dumbledore wouldn’t tell me. He said that the ministry doesn’t want it getting out because then other people who end up in Azkaban in the future would know how to escape. Which means that whatever Susanna did isn’t something that can be fixed by beefing up security around there. It does make me pretty curious about her methods.”

Tom nodded agreement. “Yes, it is rather curious, and I want to know. Come on.” He reached out to grab one of Henry’s arms to yank him up out of his seat, but didn’t bother grabbing Sirius because he knew that his best friend would follow him without being dragged along.

Henry seemed surprised to find himself pulled out into the hallway. “Wait- what? Where are we going?”

“To Dumbledork. I want to-”

Tom paused for a moment to give Sirius a high five as his friend grinned. “Nice one,”

“Thanks. Now, as I was saying, I want to go to that oaf of a headmaster and find out for myself exactly how it was that Susanna escaped. We’re all well aware that she’s one of the most clever individuals in this school, but that prison is supposed to be foolproof. That’s what the dementors are for, right?”

Henry still seemed to be confused by the sudden turn of events. “But why does it even matter? It’s not like any of us are planning on breaking the law and winding up in a jail like Azkaban…” he trailed off as his eyes flitted over the two Slytherins. “Or maybe some of us are. Who knows. But shouldn’t we have other priorities right now? Like finding my sister? The headmaster told me that the aurors who are trying to track her down now are not afraid to use force against her. I’m really scared, Tom,” that last admission came out very quietly, like he hadn’t been planning on saying it. 

Tom didn’t want to confess to it out loud, but the truth was that he was terrified for Susanna at the moment. He was proud of her for actually finding a way to do what had been previously thought of as impossible, though he was still confused about why she broke out after going through so much trouble to get in. But the most important thing at the moment was that he was out of his mind with fear that the aurors would decide she was dangerous, and that they would end up killing her rather than capturing her. Susanna was a good person, and she didn’t deserve any of the things that had happened to her. Tom desperately wanted her to be okay, and he was equally desperate for a chance to talk to her alone, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Instead of saying anything comforting to Henry, mostly because he couldn’t actually think of anything comforting to say, he continued dragging the boy around until they reached the entrance to the headmaster’s office. He impatiently knocked against the solid stone wall, angry that he didn’t already know whatever ridiculous password Dumbledore had come up with. 

But apparently just knocking was actually enough, because the wall slid away to reveal stairs a moment later. The three boys traipsed hesitantly up the stairs, not sure of why they were being allowed in so easily. When they entered the headmaster’s office, they could see Dumbledore sitting on top of his desk, slowly swinging his legs back and forth while he read from some ancient looking book. 

He looked up, peering over the rims of his glasses, and then offered a polite smile to his guests. “This is an unusual combination. How can I help you boys today?” Even as he spoke, his normal cheerful tone was tinged with wariness. 

Henry glanced at Tom, then took a deep breath before stepping out in front of the Slytherins. “I want to talk more about what you told me earlier. I know you said that that was the end of the discussion, but I- all of us- feel that we deserve to know more.”

Dumbledore tilted his head. “Oh? And why is that, exactly?”

Tom cleared his throat. “Since none of us are going to end up in Azkaban anyways, what difference does it make if we know how Susanna escaped? We have the right to know. Henry’s her brother, I’m her close friend, and Sirius is also her close friend.” He didn’t have to be entirely honest with the headmaster, and his relationship with Susanna had still been so new when everything else had gone down, so he didn’t want to go around putting labels on it. And Sirius seemed to approve of Susanna, so that was enough for now. “She’s someone important to all of us, and we want to know what happened. How else could we even begin to figure out whether or not she’s injured, or-”

Dumbledore hopped down to the floor in a move that really looked too childish for a man with such a long beard, and put the book he was reading down on top of his desk. Then he turned back to Tom with an almost amused look on his face. “I understand your concerns, Mr. Riddle. But I am concerned that there is more to it than what you’re letting on. The students of Hogwarts are not allowed to leave whenever they please, and certainly not to go wandering around in search of an escaped convict. A crack team of aurors and dementors are already on the case, and I am certain that they will find them.”

Tom opened his mouth to offer up another argument about why they deserved to know Susanna’s fate before the law could find her, but then his mouth snapped shut as Dumbledore’s words sank in. The old man looked rather unconcerned himself, and Tom got the feeling that it had been an intentional slip of the tongue. A quick glance at his companions didn’t reveal anything in particular, other than the fact that they didn’t seem to have picked up on the slip. But why would Dumbledore say that? ‘Them’ implied that Susanna wasn’t the only one who had escaped. That would look even worse for the ministry, if a whole group of people were able to break out of Azkaban. But it still didn’t explain why the headmaster would tell that to Tom of all people. 

He took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Now wasn’t the time to be shouting and getting angry at everyone. “You’re right, we should just leave the aurors to do their jobs. I’m sure that they know what they’re doing. They’ll catch the escaped prisoners soon enough.” When Dumbledore didn’t try to correct Tom’s use of the plural for prisoners, Tom knew that he was right. Susanna wasn’t the only one who had escaped, and even though that would probably be in all the papers tomorrow, for right now, Tom was one of the few people who knew it.

Henry gave him a strange look before turning back to the headmaster. “Please, sir, we just want to know how to find my sister. You know that if the aurors find her, they aren’t going to be there just to throw her back in jail. They’re going to call her a dangerous criminal, and-” his voice cracked from all of the emotion, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Surprisingly enough, Sirius reached over to clap a gentle hand over Henry’s shoulder for a moment. Then he looked at Dumbledore. “You know what? We’re really sorry to have borrowed your time like this, sir. We should probably just get back to our homework or something.”

Then he grabbed one of Henry’s hands and one of Tom’s hands so that he could pull them out of the office. Tom didn’t need to be pulled along; he already realized that they had gotten all of the information out of Dumbledore that they were going to be able to get just from talking to him. Henry seemed resistant to the idea of just leaving, but after a particularly insistent tug, he gave in and let himself be dragged away. 

When they all reached the doorway to leave the office, Dumbledore spoke softly. “Just be careful. You never know what’s going to happen when you throw water onto a fire. If there’s already oil there, you’re only going to make the flames grow so much larger.”

Tom furrowed his eyebrows, but decided that he’d work on figuring out the cryptic bullshit later. For now, he was glad to leave the office. He had never been fond of Dumbledore. From the moment they’d first met, when the older wizard had come to take Tom away from the orphanage, he’d given Tom a bad feeling. 

When they were back in the dungeons, standing around in an empty classroom, the three boys all looked at each other, each waiting to hear what the other had to say first. Tom leaned forward, and interlocked his fingers so that he could crack his knuckles. “This situation is about a lot more than any of understand right now, but we’re going to figure it all out. And we’re going to save Susanna, no matter what.” The other two boys nodded, and then they put their heads together to begin brainstorming. 

,,,

Susanna stretched her arms up over her head and yawned softly before she even opened her eyes. She felt better than she had in ages. Even a short amount of time in Azkaban was enough to make someone feel like everything in the world was entirely hopeless, and she had no idea how Ardin had managed to stay sane for so long. 

She followed her nose to the kitchen, and found the amusing sight of Ardin cooking something elaborate looking while dancing around the kitchen to the music coming from a radio that was resting on one end of the countertop. “What are you doing?”

Ardin actually jumped up in the air, and then whipped around. His shoulders slumped down as he saw that it was just Susanna standing there. “Merlin, you scared me.” He sighed. “I thought I’d try my hand at cooking. I used to be really good at it, but it has been ages.”

Susanna looked at the various pots and pans and cutting boards that were scattered around, and she immediately decided that she wanted no part of any of it, other than the end results. She was sure that there was some kind of method to the madness- or at least she hoped there was. Instead of offering her assistance, she sat down at the table that was in the middle of the kitchen. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Well, a few somethings anyways. How did you know about this place? Why were you in Azkaban to begin with? How did you know how to trick the dementors?”

Ardin laughed at the onslaught of questions. “I can understand your curiosity, but I’m not great at multitasking. I’ll just try to take them one at a time. I knew about this place because my father brought me here when I was a child. He was a squib, but he fully embraced the magical world, and ended up getting involved with some gang. The gang needed safe places all over the world, and they’re all pretty similar to this. This place is completely protected. No one will be able to find us here unless they already know exactly what they’re looking for. Unfortunately, my father got too far involved with some serious business, and he ended up getting himself killed. It’s not like he ever really stood a chance against people wielding magic. But I did have a chance, so I avenged him.”

Susanna blinked once, then narrowed her eyes. “You killed someone?”

Ardin grinned, and it was a surprisingly friendly look for someone who’d just confessed to being a murderer. “Not just someone. Eleven someones. Few things in life will ever make you feel as powerful as the moment you take all of those lives, and you know that none of them ever stood a chance against them.”

Susanna shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to come here with a complete stranger. She’d been wondering how he was still sane, but back in prison he’d admitted that he’d stayed sane by letting himself go a little crazy. And what if he was already crazy before that? Sane people didn’t murder eleven people. 

After a moment, she realized that Ardin was staring at her with one eyebrow raised. “Fair’s fair. Why were you in lockup? And why is it something that you’re so desperate to forget?”

Susanna sighed as Ardin slid a plate full of food in front of her, and then he sat down across from her with an identical plate. “I killed someone too,” she said softly. “It was just one person, but I’ll never regret anything more in my entire life. For years, I’ve let myself push all these thoughts into the back of my mind, but then my best friend was murdered, and I was arrested for it, and all of my bad memories suddenly came flooding back.” She paused to play around with her food for a moment, but she found that she didn’t have much of an appetite. “I only killed one person, but it’s a lot worse than what you did. You killed bad people, and even though revenge isn’t right, in the end you were doing what you thought they deserved. The person I killed was someone I should’ve never been able to hurt. My little sister. I loved her more than anything. More than my parents or my brother or myself. And then I went away to Hogwarts and-” she cut herself off to take in a shuddering breath. “I wrote her a letter. I told her that I wanted her to be there with me. She got too excited and decided to try and come with me. She was-” she frowned, and looked down at her lap. “She was killed. She was just a little kid, and she only went because I asked her to.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Ardin reached across the table to take one of Susanna’s hands. “Take it from an actual murderer- you aren’t at fault for what happened. No one could have known. You didn’t tell her to go and get herself killed, and you never even thought for a moment that that would happen.”

Susanna pulled her hand away, and she still couldn’t raise her head up enough to meet Ardin’s eyes. “That’s not everything,” she whispered. “I was devastated. I didn’t think anyone else knew about the letter that I wrote. All I knew was that I’d written it, and then my little sister had died. I couldn’t stand the thought of that being the end of her. She was the best thing in my life. Not that I didn’t love my brother or parents, but my sister and I had a connection. And the thought of her being dead because of me was completely unacceptable.” She finally looked up at Ardin, though she kept her gaze just a few inches away from his eyes. She couldn’t bear to see the judgement that would be there. She’d only ever told one person about this before, and that was her grandfather. “My brother and I were excused from Hogwarts due to extenuating circumstances. We were given two weeks to go home, attend the funeral, and mourn as a family. I felt so lost. I was only a first year and it was so close to the beginning of the year that I hadn’t even really had the chance to make friends. My sister had always been my closest friend. So I…” trying to find the right words to explain her crime was difficult, but it was only fair since Ardin had explained his sins to her. “After the funeral, I went back to the cemetery. I hadn’t been planning anything, I just wanted to visit her. But then the opportunities fell into place, and I didn’t think about what I was doing.”

Ardin’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, and he clearly had no idea where Susanna was trying to lead into with that wild start. “I don’t understand.”

“Someone else had just been buried. A pretty young woman who’d been stabbed to death by her boyfriend. I- I know a way to hide the trace on a minor’s wand. I hadn’t even known about the trace at the time. I was just a stupid kid. But I’d cloned my wand back at Hogwarts, since I assumed that my sister would be a witch too, and I wanted her to at least be buried with a wand. Turns out the wand was fully functional, and not technically registered to me. I just-” How could she keep talking? She’d done the unthinkable.

Ardin still seemed confused, but he hadn’t jumped up and told her to shut her mouth. He actually encouraged her to keep talking. “You’ll feel better to just get it out,” he told her softly. 

Susanna nodded, and reached up to wipe away at the tears she could feel building up. “I’m in Ravenclaw for a reason. I’m not being vain when I say that I know I’m smart. But it helped that I had this artifact. It had been passed down in my family for a while. A little crown, almost. My sister loved when I wore it because she said that it made me look like a princess. So I wore it that day at the cemetery. And I just knew what to do. It was complicated, but I wanted more than anything for it to work. For me to be able to bring my little sister back to life.” Ardin’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything, so Susanna forced herself to continue. “Her body was too broken, so I took the pretty young woman who had been killed. She only had a few stab wounds, so I thought that it wouldn’t be important, and then I did a whole string of dark spells that I shouldn’t have even known. The next thing I knew, the woman was up and alive, and spoke like my sister. But there was something wrong. She didn’t seem like a real person. She was cruel to me, but I couldn’t kill her. I reburied my sister’s body, and then told her that she could never tell anyone who she was if she didn’t want to be taken apart and experimented on forever. She left, and I thought I’d never see her again. Not until-”

“She’s the one who visited you in Azkaban?”

Susanna gulped, then nodded. “Yes. She just wanted me to tell her what I did. Apparently she can use at least some degree of magic, and I think she wanted to know the whole ritual so that she could fix herself.” Susanna sniffled, and then stood up. “I am the reason she died, and then I forced her to come back and live some cheap imitation of a life. There’s nothing in the world that I could ever imagine hating myself more for.” Then she hurried away, unable to see the disgust that was obviously going to be in Ardin’s face. It was the same disgust she saw whenever she deigned to look into a mirror. 

Going back to Hogwarts and playing at being happy had just been a joke. She’d done the unforgivable. Broken so many taboos that she couldn’t even count. And then she’d run away and left Emilia to figure out everything on her own. Susanna reached down to trace her scars that she could feel if she pressed down enough on her clothes. She didn’t deserve just for being who she was born as, but she deserved far worse than that for what she’d done. Breaking out of Azkaban had been a mistake. Susanna should’ve just stayed there to rot for eternity. It was no less than she deserved for everything she’d done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is- Susanna’s reason for wanting to go to jail, and the identity of her mystery visitor, and her biggest, darkest secret, all wrapped up in one chapter


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, Susanna’s mostly just desperate to tell someone, though it seems likely that she at least told her grandfather. It’s not like a dark lord could judge someone for using dark magic. As for the dark turn, tbh it’s not like it’s something that I’ve been planning since the beginning, but I think it keeps a nice balance to the relationship if Tom and Susanna both have a little dark and light in them and neither are perfect.

Susanna was woken up from the nap she’d cried herself into by the sound of knocking on the door to the room that she’d claimed for herself. Since she knew that it had to be Ardin, she decided to just bite the bullet and let him in. She’d have to face him sooner or later anyways. If she was lucky, he’d be a bit less judgemental than most people because he was also a murderer. 

She got up and went over to unlock the door. Ardin had an unreadable look on his face, but before Susanna could say anything, he grabbed her hand, and yanked her out to the den. “Come on, I want to talk to you.” He gestured for her to sit down on the couch, and then motioned to the steaming cup of tea that he’d put down on the little coffee table. “Drink that, it’ll help you feel better.” He sat down in the seat that was right next to the couch, and turned to face Susanna, doing his best to meet her eyes. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what you told me earlier. And I’ve come to a few conclusions. The first is that no matter how many times people tell you that you’re not responsible for your sister’s death, you’re never going to believe it. The second thing is more of a question I had. You said that your sister visited you in prison to ask what you did to make her so that she could figure out a way to reverse that. Why didn’t you just tell her?”

Susanna frowned. She hadn’t been expecting Ardin to ever want to talk to her again, and now he was trying to sound like he actually knew Susanna. Well, technically he did know something about her that only two other people in the world knew about. But that was just one thing. He didn’t know about all of the other facts and details that made up Susanna Matheus. But if he was willing to help, which he’d already promised back in Azkaban, then she supposed that she could answer a few questions, even if they weren’t easy. 

She cleared her throat before speaking. “I was afraid. My grandfather told me that she is an abomination, and she has an untraceable wand and an unknown quantity of magic. What if I told her how she was created, and then she went and used that method to create and entire army of abominations for herself?”

“Why would she do that? What purpose would it serve her to command an army of weird zombie people?” He narrowed his eyes. “And why do I get the feeling that you’re not telling me the truth? I mean, I fully understand if you don’t feel entirely confiding in me about personal things because we barely know each other, but I don’t want you to lie to yourself about what’s really going on.”

Susanna clenched her jaw, and slumped down in her seat. She’d spent so long doing everything possible to just not think about her past. So even when she’d been forced to confront it in jail, she’d still done her best to avoid it. She hadn’t really given much thought to why she shouldn’t explain everything to Emilia beyond that her grandfather had warned her not to do that. But she wasn’t stupid. In the past few years that her sister had been reanimated, she’d never done anything to prove herself a threat. Or maybe she had, but not on any scale big enough to be news anywhere. And she already had access to magic, so that wasn’t the issue. Maybe her sister just wasn’t interested in world domination. 

But then why was Susanna so afraid to talk about what she’d done to create the abomination in the first place? It’s not that she couldn’t remember the process; even if it had been the diadem that helped her along, she’d been in full control of her body and mind, and was well aware of everything that she’d said and done to complete the ritual. So then what was it?

Apparently Ardin felt like he was entitled to be the one to answer that. “I think I might have an idea of your reasoning. Think about it- you were so desperate to not lose your sister that you brought her back to life, which already sounds like something that should be totally impossible even with magic. If you were that desperate to not let go of her the first time around, doesn’t it make sense that you still don’t want to let go?”

Susanna blinked a few times, then arched one eyebrow. “You think I won’t tell her because she’ll use it to just completely undo herself? If she wanted to get out of the world that badly, there’s a million other ways that she could go about it than trying to figure out some complicated ritual. I think it’s like I told you before, and she just wants to find out how to make herself more human again.”

“But that’s a good thing. So why are you still so afraid to just-” Ardin was cut off mid sentence by the sound of someone knocking on the door. “This is just fucking great,” he muttered under his breath. If that’s one of the old gang, who were friends with several of my victims, then you and I are totally screwed. We don’t have wands, and no offense, but I don’t think that you’re strong enough to know how to handle wandless magic.”

Susanna narrowed her eyes. “I thought that you brought me here because it would be safe. And anyways, if we can’t use magic, how did you plan on helping me forget about all my troubles?”

Ardin shrugged. “I do plan on getting my hands on a wand eventually, and when I do, it’ll be easy enough to obliviate you, so don’t even worry about it. What you should be worried about is the here and now, where we are very likely to wind up dead.”

The knocking on the door didn’t let up, and it was making Susanna feel very uncomfortable. “So are we seriously just going to die out here in the middle of nowhere so that no one can ever find our bodies? That doesn’t seem very pleasant to me. Surely you know something we can do to get out of this. You did so well at springing us out of jail in the first place, so you have to have more tricks up your sleeve, right? I really need you to say that you do.”

He shrugged again. “I guess we could always go for a good old fashioned sneaking out the back door strategy.”

“If there is a back door to sneak out of, then why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”

“Because I thought it would be so fun to just mess with you,” Ardin snarked. “Or maybe because I am freaking out a little bit right now. If it’s anyone who recognizes me, they will torture me for a very long time before they finish me off. At least you’ll have the mercy of a quick death.”

Susanna shook her head. “Neither of us are going to die.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “We’re both already wanted for murder, so adding another body to the pile won’t really make a difference, will it? There’s two of us, and if we can surprise attack the other guy and get his wand, then we’ll be a lot better off for it.”

Ardin tilted his head curiously. “Are you actually suggesting that we team up to kill somebody? I mean, if it’s someone for the gang responsible for my dad’s death, then I don’t have a problem with trying to take them down, but you’ve never killed anyone and gotten their blood on your hands.”

“And you have?”

He nodded. “Yup. It was for an important cause; I wasn’t going to just let those guys get away with a quick and easy death. My dad deserved better than that. And I felt so much better working without magic after the initial incapacitation.”

Susanna gulped, but she had already decided that this was their best bet. “Would it be selfish of me to ask that you’re the one to actually um, you know…?”

Ardin rolled his eyes, but he pulled Susanna into the kitchen. He grabbed a big knife to hand to her “just in case” and then took another knife for himself. He walked over to the door, and motioned for Susanna to stand on the other side. “You open it, I’ll stab, and if we’re lucky it’ll be an instant hit.”

Susanna felt like she was going to be sick, but she couldn’t think of any other solution. She didn’t want to die out here in the middle of nowhere. And she’d already caused one person’s death, so what difference did it make to have more on her conscience? She took a deep breath in, trying to will herself not to vomit, and then she reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and yanked the door open.

,,,

“She had help,” Tom reminded them. “I’m not sure what exactly prisoners are like, but I’m assuming that they don’t bond and become best friends who just want to all help each other out. Whoever she worked with, they were probably working together out of necessity. Whatever they did to bust out wasn’t just some one man job.”

Sirius blinked. “So? Who cares how many people were working together to break out? And honestly, I don’t think that it’ll give us more information about where to find them. If they’re even still together now. They might have gotten out and then split up so that they’d be less likely to be caught. Knowing that she had help doesn’t help us.”

Henry just shrugged, and apparently didn’t have anything else to add to the conversation. Since they’d snuck him into the Slytherin house a few hours ago after leaving the headmaster’s office, he’d just been moody and sulky. Tom couldn’t really blame the guy, since this was a really complicated situation. Too complicated to even be the plot of a badly written book. And Henry had to be worried out of his mind about his sister. Tom had no siblings, but he was also insanely worried about Susanna. He couldn’t imagine himself ever getting this freaked out on anyone else’s behalf. Susanna was special, though. 

When the three boys just stared at each other in silence for a few minutes, Tom realized that they weren’t going to be able to figure out anything else today. “Why don’t we meet up to talk more tomorrow?”

“Does it have to be in secret again?” Henry grumbled. “We could be doing a lot of good for a lot of people out there if we just show them that it’s possible for Slytherins to be friends with the kids from other houses. They should all see that being Slytherin doesn’t automatically make someone evil.”

Tom couldn’t stop himself from snorting loudly at that. “Seriously? Not all Slytherins are evil, but you felt that it was necessary for me to make an unbreakable vow promising that I would not harm innocent people?”

Henry shrugged. “It’s true that being in Slytherin doesn’t automatically make you evil. But you weren’t exactly a good person before that night when you saved Susanna. And I’ve seen you hanging out with Avery recently. You know, the definitely evil guy who murdered at least two people and then framed my sister for it?”

“I need to keep up appearances,” Tom reminded for what felt like the millionth time. “The only way I can ever possibly figure out anything with that guy is if I get close to him. If I shove him and the others away, then they’ll only target me next, and then none of us will be winners here. Just trust me on this, okay?”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Right, just trust the weasley Slytherin to be telling the truth. That’s real rich.”

Tom purposely misinterpreted that. “Hey, don’t mistake me for one of the Weasleys!”

Sirius leaned over to nudge Tom in the shoulder. “I’m pretty sure that they’re at least richer than you, right?”

“Alright, this has been a really fun chat for all of us, but it’s time for you guys to get out. I need time to think. And sleep. And do homework. Lots of things to do. So beat it!”

Henry and Sirius both exchanged what seemed to be an amused look before they got up and headed out of the room they’d been hiding in. Tom stayed in there for a while longer, not wanting anyone to think that he’d actually been hiding in a closet with a couple of dudes, one of whom was a Ravenclaw. 

When he finally emerged, there was no one else around anyways, which made Tom nod once in satisfaction. He decided to grab his bag and head down to the library to work on some of his assignments. He could probably figure out the mysteries of Susanna on his own, but he preferred to have some help with it, and he knew that he couldn’t let himself fall behind in his classes, no matter how eager he was to conduct a rescue mission. For now he’d just have to keep up appearances, and hope that Susanna doesn’t do anything else stupid before Tom can save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter than usual chapter; my brain feels like mush right now and this is probably the best that I’m going to be able to do.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a lot of angst and drama yet to come, but I’m a sucker for happy endings too :)

As soon as the door was open, Ardin swung his blade, and even though Susanna couldn’t see what was going on from where she was standing behind the door, she squeezed her eyes shut and flinched back. But a couple of seconds passed, and nothing happened. Susanna had never stabbed anyone before, but she’d expected there to be some kind of noise from it. Maybe a gross squelching sound as the blade bit through flesh, or a pained gasp, or the thud of a body. 

Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Susanna waited a few more seconds. When still nothing happened, she gripped her own knife tightly, and decided that it was time for her to be brave. She slammed the door shut, which moved easily enough, as though there weren’t too people standing on the other side of it, and then Susanna was left with the sight of empty space. No Ardin, no intruder, no nobody. 

Susanna gulped, and then slowly opened the door from an angle that would allow her to peer outside, but would also let her close the door quickly if anything frightening were to happen. She blinked a few times at the sight that she was met with. Standing just a few feet in front of her was Ardin, with his arms wrapped tightly around a woman that seemed about his age, who had frizzy copper hair. She cleared her throat, and both adults quickly turned to look at her.

They relaxed when they saw that it was only Susanna, and Ardin grinned. “I am so glad you asked me to be the one to do the dirty work. Otherwise I might’ve had to witness you gut this lovely young woman right here.”

The woman stretched one hand out towards Susanna, apparently not bothered by the knife that the Ravenclaw was still clutching. “Pleasure to meet you. Anyone who helped my darling escape is a pleasure to meet.” She looked back to Ardin. “The moment I read the paper and found out that you’d left, I made my way here. I knew that it’s where you’d want to hide out. I brought some things of yours that I thought you’d appreciate, along with a temporary wand. Unfortunately, I didn’t think you’d actually stick with your partner in crime, so I only thought to grab one.”

“That’s quite alright,” Ardin told her. Then he swooped down to steal a quick kiss from her before looking back at Susanna. “This is Marley, my beautiful fiance.”

Susanna blinked a few times. “Beg your pardon? Did you just say-”

“Fiance? Yes, that’s me,” Marley cut in. We were engaged a very long time ago, because his unfortunate incarceration. I was never able to write to him in prison, but,” she turned back to Ardin so that she could meet his eyes. “I was never with a single person other than you. And I kept the ring you gave me all those years ago. I’d always hoped that someday we would have a chance to be together again, and it turns out that I was right.”

Even though there was a part of Susanna that was happy for this couple to be reunited after an unknown number of years apart, and jealous because she wished to be reunited with her own friends and family (including Tom, of course), mostly she just felt disgust as she looked at them. Had Marley really lived her entire life at a standstill, just waiting for an unlikely future where she’d get to be with her murderer of a fiance? Didn’t that woman have any sense of shame or pride? Didn’t she ever get lonely? How did it never occur to her that by staying stagnant she’d basically declared herself to be property of Ardin? Susanna was well aware of the many gender inequalities in this world. But it still sickened her to actually see something like this. She couldn’t imagine putting her entire life on hold, not for anyone. And she really hoped that no one she knew would be stupid enough to do that for her. 

Before she could say anything to offend the grossly in love pair, she cleared her throat, and nodded towards the tree. “We should probably go back inside before we keep talking. Who knows what other kind of people could be lurking out here?”

The three of them traipsed back inside the small cabin. Marley put the duffel bag she’d brought down on the couch, and then gave Ardin a suggestive look. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, my darling. Perhaps we could head upstairs and get better acquainted before we decide on our next course of action?”

Ardin nodded eagerly, and Susanna supposed that she couldn’t really blame him for letting his hormones and his body take over his decision making. He’d clearly been in jail for a very long time, with no female company to keep. But she still couldn’t stop herself from feeling annoyed as she watched them practically run up the stairs, acting like randy teenagers.

Susanna was no prude, and she didn’t believe that it should matter whether people had sex before marriage, or a lot of sex, or sex with their own gender, or no sex at all. But in this case, she firmly believed that Marley was acting like a pathetic puppy dog begging for her master’s attention, and there were more important things to be discussed than something like sex.

With a frustrated groan, Susanna decided that she may as well at least go through the things that Marley had brought to see if there was anything particularly useful in there. Mostly it was just clothes that presumably belonged to Ardin and Marley. Looking at the clothes in her hands, Susanna got a great idea for how to hide right in plain sight. The aurors would be searching for a girl who’d escaped from prison, in the company of a man. But they wouldn’t give a second glance to a boy by himself. 

She dug through some more until she triumphantly found the small box that held the wand Marley had gotten. It was clearly unused, and not meant to be a permanent solution to the problem. But because it was unused, while it wouldn’t work amazingly well for Susanna, there would be no trace on it connected to her so she should be fine. She paused at the thought of taking one of Ardin's only weapons away from him, though. He may be a lot of things, but in the end he'd helped her get free, and come to certain realizations that she might not have on her own. So she cloned the wand, and did a quick test to make sure that both wands worked, and then she put the original back into its box.

Susanna quickly changed into a pair of the rough denim jeans, and a button up shirt. When she found a mirror to peer in, she realized that she just looked like a girl wearing mens’ clothes. So she scrounged up a pair of scissors, and chopped off as much of her hair as she could, which she then flushed down the toilet. With that out of the way, she used the wand to change her hair to dark black, and changed her eyes to a warm brown. She tanned her skin a bit, and added a smatter of freckles across her nose. Then she retrieved the first aid kit from the duffel bag, and pulled out one of the bandages. She stripped off her shirt, wrapped the bandage around herself, and then pulled the shirt back on. When she looked in the mirror again, she was satisfied that anyone who saw her would assume that she was a boy. 

With that all taken care of, Susanna pulled on some shoes, and then headed out, gripping the wand tightly. She wasn’t going to take anything else, since it would only be a pain to lug around anyways, and once she found some semblance of civilization, she’d just be able to buy whatever she needed. Then again, Susanna wasn’t even sure where the nearest town was going to be, or which direction she should start to head in. 

Stomping back inside in defeat, Susanna headed to the kitchen to grab at whichever foods were least likely to spoil, and then she used an undetectable extension charm on the first aid kit. She stuffed in several cans of food that she’d grabbed, along with a small bag of oats, a half a loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese, and some chicken. She cast a refrigeration charm on the kit so that none of the food inside would go bad. Then she shrank the kit and shoved it down into her pocket. 

With that out of the way, Susanna cast a spell for a map of the local terrain. It wasn’t a great map, but it was a much better alternative to wandering around blindly and hoping that she wouldn’t eventually starve to death or something. She searched the map for a few minutes, until she spotted the edge of the forest line. There had to be towns or something beyond there, which meant that that was the way Susanna was going to go. 

She left the house again, this time feeling more certain of her odds of survival, and she headed off in the direction that she’d charted. Staying disguised as a boy for the rest of her life didn’t seem to be the most ideal choice, but it would work for now to keep her alive and out of prison. She barely recognized herself in the mirror anymore, so there was no reason that anyone else looking at her would be able to recognize her either. 

,,,

Time felt like it was just dragging along cruelly for Tom. He’d even stopped once or twice to think about the fact that he would be so much better off right now if he’d never met Susanna. He wouldn’t have been roped into making an unbreakable vow, he wouldn’t have to be constantly on the edge of his seat with worry, and he’d still be the rightful king of the Slytherin house. But in the end, none of those things were worth exchanging Susanna for. They hadn’t gotten very long together to actually just hang out and be themselves, but in the short time that they had shared, Tom had been happier than he could ever remember being before in his life. That made it all worth this pain, right?

He slammed his textbook shut, not that he’d really been paying much attention to the words anyways, and when he sat up, there was a loud crack as the top of his head smacked into the bottom of someone else’s jaw. He jerked away, and reached up to rub at his head where the collision had taken place. Then he focused on the other person, and his eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Can I help you with something? Or were you just reading over my shoulder like a total creep for no reason?”

Even though there was a red blotch on the underside of his jaw, Sirius didn’t seem at all bothered by what had just happened, and he had that goofy grin of his displayed. “Hey now, is that any way to talk to a friend?”

“Keep bugging me and the only friend I have will be buried six feet under,” Tom muttered grimly.

That didn’t seem to bother Sirius either. “That’s actually impossible. If you kill me, your vow will kill you. I’m totally innocent, remember?”

Tom narrowed his eyes even more, so that they were just thin slits and it made everything look blurry to him, but he also hoped that it got across how unimpressed he was at the moment. “Again, is there something you actually need, or are you just here to bother me?”

Sirius sighed, apparently disappointed that they weren’t going to keep bantering. “Fine, fine, you figured me out. I didn’t come here just for the endless joy of being in your company. I just wanted to show you this.” He whipped out a newspaper from god-knows-where, and shoved it right in Tom’s face. “Look, look, it’s really interesting.”

Tom highly doubted that Sirius was actually showing him anything particularly useful, but just on the off chance that that was the case, it was worth skimming over the articles. He snatched the newspaper, and then motioned for Sirius to bugger off. His friend just plopped down into the open seat next to him, and grabbed the textbook Tom had been in the middle of pretending to read.

It would be too much trouble to try and fight for his property back, and he decided to just ignore his friend and focus on the paper instead. He didn’t have to look very hard to find what Sirius must’ve been trying to show him, since the front page showed a moving picture of both Susanna, and some haggard looking middle aged man. The headline was stretched across the top of the paper in bold print ‘Two Murderers on the Loose!’

He read the actual article, frowning deeper as he got through it. According to the paper, Susanna had made her escape with a man named Ardin Longshore, who had been arrested for murdering ten wizards and a squib twenty years ago. Apparently someone had gone to interview the woman he’d been engaged to at the time of his arrest, but she hadn’t been home, and the reporter found a receipt from a local wand shop. Everyone who knew the woman claimed that she’d always been obsessed with her fiance and had no doubt gone to find and aid him. There were less written about Susanna, because she was still a minor and was protected by certain laws even if everyone did think that she was a murderer.

When he’d finished, Tom rolled up the paper and tossed it right at the side of Sirius’ head. “That was completely useless. Why did you bother showing me that? There wasn’t a single hint about where they might’ve gone or what resources they might have available to them.”

Sirius shrugged. “If that lady really thinks she knows him well enough even after two decades to think that she can track him down, then all we have to do is track her down, and we’ll be in the right place.” He shifted in his seat. “Though on the one hand, I’d almost prefer Susanna had parted ways with the guy. It would make her harder to find, but it would also make it less likely that we’d have to face down a deranged serial killer on our own.”

Tom abruptly stood. “Wait a minute. I think you might actually be onto something here. That lady is tracking down her fiance because she knows him more than anyone, right? But if they did go their separate ways, which would make the most sense because I can’t imagine Susanna wanting to spend more time with an actual murderer, then we can just use the person who knows her most to track her down. It’ll be risky to run away from the school, and we won’t be able to use any of our wands without risking being caught from the trace on them. But if there’s three of us together then we should have a better chance of survival anyways. Come on.”

As Tom hurried out of the library, he heard a pair of footsteps following right behind him, which meant that Sirius was actually willing to go through with this, as insane as it sounded. They’d be leaving the safety of the school, probably missing enough classes to ensure that they’d fail, and they’d have to leave their wands behind to completely avoid the temptation of using them. But Tom felt like they could actually do this, so long as they all stuck together. Susanna was smart and resourceful, and Tom had no doubt that she’d figure out a way to keep going for as long as she possibly could. But he wanted to be able to help her. It wasn’t just about proving that he was manly or useful. It wasn’t about proving anything. It was about the fear that rose up inside of him everytime he considered the possibility that Susanna was hurt or worse.

As Tom rushed down the corridors, he almost missed the telltale whoosh of an owl flying above him, and he slowed down enough that Sirius ended up slamming right into his back. He turned to glare at the other boy, and then looked up at the owl, which had just chased him down the hallway. It dropped a letter into his hand, and then swooped away without even waiting to be pet or given a treat.

It was addressed to ‘Average Scumball’, and Tom quickly tore it open and pulled out the letter within. It was short and to the point, just like all of the letters from Grindelwald. _S jumped ship, you need to stay put. -G.G._ But there was no way that Tom could just sit around and do nothing. He wasn’t that kind of coward. 

Sirius looked intrigued by the letter, which he’d read over Tom’s shoulder, but he just hummed under his breath and didn’t say anything about it. Tom crumpled up the letter, and shoved it deep into his pocket. He was more scared for Susanna than he was of Grindelwald. He continued down the hallway with Sirius right behind him, on the search for the one person who knew Susanna better than anyone else in the world. And together the three of them would be able to fix everything.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just posted a bunch of chapters in the last couple of minutes, so if you're just tuning in for the day, be sure to go back to chapter 33 if you haven't already read it
> 
> The stuff with Ardin is more of a ‘comes back to bite you in the butt later on’ kinda thing. Unless it becomes another forgotten plot point. I always seem to have lots of those floating around. And I do definitely plan on having Tom and Susanna reunite as quickly as possible. They’ve already spent way too long apart haha

It ended up taking up less time than Susanna had expected to get to the nearest town. She’d walked for about two hours to get out of the forest, and then another hour or so to the town. Too bad there weren’t any magical devices for travel that worked better than a charmed map would. She probably could’ve gotten there sooner if she was more efficient at reading maps and making her way around an unfamiliar landscape.

But none of that mattered now, because the point was that she’d made it, and as far as she knew, there was no one following after her. Ardin and her had only worked together in the first place because getting out of prison was a two man job. There was no reason for him to care about her anymore, even for something like a stolen wand. It’s not like it was his wand anyways. And the ‘freedom from her problems’ that he’d offered was really just a memory wiping spell, which basically anybody could perform. And Susanna wasn’t entirely sure that it would be the right thing to do after all. Forgetting about all of the bad things she’d done wouldn’t automatically make her into a good person. 

Even though she still had plenty of food in her bag, she decided that it would be nice to stop at a little restaurant and get something to eat. A fresh hot meal was always a good thing. And it might be a way to figure out where she was and where she was going to go from here. Maybe there would be a couple of extra chatty waitresses lying around. 

She slipped into a booth in a small diner that had tacky tables and torn fabric covering the seats. But despite its appearance, Susanna decided that it was suitable enough for what she needed. She only had to wait a minute before a young woman in a uniform walked over to the table, holding a small pad of paper. “Bonsoir monsieur. Que puis-je te faire?”

Were they really in France right now? How? Azkaban wasn’t near France, was it? Had she and Ardin really traveled so far together? “Parlez vous Anglais?” Maybe Hogwarts should have more foreign language classes so that the students wouldn’t have to feel so lost out in the real world.

Luckily, the waitress just smiled, and bobbed her head up and down. “What can I get for you, monsieur?” She spoke in a thick French accent, but at least Susanna didn’t feel like she was having a stroke. “Do you need any help translating the menu?”

Susanna shook her head. “That’s alright. Reading is a little easier than listening, you know? Can I please have some green tea to start?”

The waitress nodded, and then hurried off in the direction of the kitchen. Susanna slumped down in her seat, and wondered how the hell she was going to get back to Scotland. Or if it was even a good idea to go back there. She should probably at least settle down in an English speaking area. Living as a man was going to be a big enough adjustment as it was. She didn’t need the added trouble of trying to learn an entire new language. 

A little while later, full on the first thing on the menu she’d thought she’d be able to pronounce without sounding like an idiot, and lots of tea, Susanna quickly flicked the wand tucked in her pocket to summon some money from someone else’s wallet, and she set it down on the table before hurrying away. Now she could add stealing to her growing list of crimes. That was just great. 

It took another hour, and a discarded newspaper, to even learn the name of the town she was in at the moment: Breille. Not that that was really helpful when she didn’t even know which part of France she was in at the moment, and she had no idea what she was actually going to do in her future. Was there even a point in pretending that she had a future? Her life as Susanna Matheus was completely over. Even if she tried to un-confess to the murders, no one would believe her. And the whole point of taking the blame was to save Tom, and to punish herself for her past. All she’d done was manage to muck it up, though. Tom was probably just fine, but she couldn’t really know that when Avery was still around and causing problems. She’d only been trying to help, but in the end, she’d only made everything so much worse.

Maybe her best bet was to just hide out in the mountains like a hermit for the next fifty years, and then return to Hogwarts completely unrecognizable so that she could see her best friend again. Other than that, she couldn’t really think of anything she really wanted to do with her life. At one point she’d wanted to be a quidditch player, but that never really seemed to be one of her options before, and it definitely wasn’t- well. If she was going to live as a guy, didn’t that mean she should get the privileges that came with it? Like being able to play quidditch without being told that it was far too dangerous a sport for people with delicate constitutions? Though she’d have to get her hands on quite a few fake papers to make sure that people actually believed her when she gave them a made up name and background.

Was that really what she wanted? A life that was built on lies and being someone other than herself just to play quidditch until she died? And that’s not even accounting for the fact that she probably wasn’t good enough to actually make it onto any professional team, since she’d never gotten very many opportunities to practice with other people. And while she did want to play, it wasn’t worth giving up everything else for. But that part didn’t matter, since she’d already given up everything else. Now it was just a matter of doing whatever she could with what little of her life she had left to look forward to.

She wandered aimlessly down the street, wondering what the hell she was really supposed to do. She had no money, and the thought of stealing more didn’t seem very appealing to her. Just because she was a murderer didn’t mean she had to be a thief as well. Maybe she could figure out how to contact her grandfather, because he’d surely pick her up and take her somewhere safe. But that felt so much like it would just be giving up, and she hated the idea of being the sort of person who just gave up and relied on everyone else to solve her messes. 

And living on the run with her grandfather would basically be the same as living on the run on her own, wouldn’t it? Well, he’d probably be able to keep her safe easier than she’d be able to do by herself. But she wasn’t sure how to get into contact with him anyways. Maybe there was some magical way to get out a message, but he might not accept anything from an unfamiliar wand. Not that Susanna had any way of retrieving her own wand back from the Ministry. Was there a separate Ministry in each country? Magical schools really needed to teach more about the politics of the wizarding world. 

Maybe she could find the French Ministry of Magic, if that was even a thing that existed, and beg them for asylum. Though news as major as a student murdering another student and the headmaster and then breaking out of jail was probably a pretty big deal, and had already made its way here. And there was no reason for the French to favor her if they believed that she was guilty. And considering her testimony back during the trial, she really wouldn’t be able to blame them for believing that.

Susanna sighed, and sank down so that she was sitting on the curb at the side of the road. What else could she even do? Maybe she should just go back and turn herself in. At this point, the dementor’s kiss would probably feel like a mercy. But that would mean taking away yet another sibling from Henry. Hadn’t she already done enough damage to him? Being on the run would never give him closure, but at least he would always be able to hope that she was still alive and kicking. All of this was just too much. She ducked her head down to rest it on her knees, and thought of everything in her life that had lead her up to this point. Surely there must’ve been a moment or two where she’d been genuinely happy, but right now, all that she could recall was a lifetime of misery and despair.

,,,

Henry stared at Tom with his eyebrows arched up in disbelief. “I’m sorry, but you want to what now? Are you completely out of your mind? We’ll either be dead or crawling back with our tails between our legs within hours. You can’t honestly think that we have any chance in hell of finding her at all, but especially not without being able to use our magic!”

Tom shrugged. “Do you have any better ideas? I’m not saying that Susanna is incapable of taking care of herself, but in case you hadn’t noticed, she kinda has a lot to deal with at the moment. And wouldn’t you feel better being able to see her with your own two eyes so that you could really know she’s okay?”

Henry still seemed hesitant to agree. “Why did you come to me, though? If we’re out in the real world without our wands, then I’m not going to be able to pull any fancy spells out of my arse to keep us alive. And you had to be aware of the risk that I would refuse to go, and then tattle on you so that you can’t go.”

“You’re her brother, Henry. You must know her better than anybody else in the entire world. If anyone is going to know how to think like her to figure out where she might go, then that person is going to be you. You’re brilliant. I know you probably get told that all the time, but it’s true. You can help us with this, Henry. You can help us find Susanna.”

He still didn’t look very confident. “But even if we find her, we can’t just bring her back here. Trying to hide her out right nearby a very large community of magical people isn’t going to end well, and she’ll just end up being thrown back in jail, or worse.”

Tom bit his lip, and knew that what he was going to say next would probably be the final straw to convince Henry that the Slytherin had snapped, but he needed to be honest about his intentions. “After we find her, I don’t plan on coming back here. When you and Sirius get back here, you have to make sure to lay all the blame on me, say I forced you along or something. Dumbledore’s always thought the worst of me, so he’d definitely believe it. It won’t be the ideal life, acting as muggles for a few years until we’re old enough to have untraceable wands, but it’ll be worth it if it means being with Susanna.”

For some reason, that confession seemed to stun Henry. He was silent for a very long moment before clearing his throat once. “Do you really love my sister that much?”

“I’d do anything for her. And I’d much rather be living somewhere off the grid with her than I would want to stay here in this stupid school by myself.”

Sirius leaned over to punch Tom in the arm. “Stop counting me out of the equation. You’ve never been by yourself here. It’s not my fault if you’ve only recently discovered the amazing ability to actually be friends with someone. And despite the fact that it would make me the awkward third wheel, if you’re not coming back then I’m not either.”

Even though he was trying to focus on coming up with an argument that would be convincing enough to get Henry’s help, Tom couldn’t help turning to look at his best friend with undisguised surprise. “Seriously? You realize that we’ll be on the run, and like you said, you’ll be a very awkward third wheel? And you’d be leaving behind everything about your life here. Why would you want to be a part of that?”

Sirius shrugged, trying to look casual even as his eyes betrayed how emotional he was at the moment. “We’ve always been best friends, even if you haven’t always known that. I followed you as you formed your group, because honestly, when you’re the one saying it, anything sounds perfectly reasonable. I mean, it’s all the same stuff my parents have been telling me my entire life, but I never truly believed it until I heard it from you. You make everything sound so real. And the power of your passion and your beliefs is limitless. You’ve got so much potential to do anything in the world that you ever put your mind to. But it’s more than just that. Like I said, we’ve been friends since the sorting in our first year. You believed in me more in a single week than anyone in my family has in my entire life. You throw yourself completely into whatever crazy idea you get into your stupid head. Your smarter than most of the teachers and students here, and you’re not afraid to let everyone know it. You can flip a switch between cruelty and acting kind quicker than most people can even begin to comprehend.” He paused for a moment, and then a small smile appeared on his face. “You’re going to be something, someday, Riddle. Me wanting to stick with you is purely selfish. The possibilities for your future are endless, but no matter where you end up, it’s going to be somewhere big and important, and I want to be a part of that. So you’re stuck with me now whether you like it or not.”

This was probably one of the very few moments in Tom’s life where he actually found himself speechless. What could he even say to that that could come close to returning that level of honesty? Tom should have seen it before, as soon as Sirius agreed that he wouldn’t go after muggle-borns anymore either, but somehow it had escaped his attention that they were really, truly, best friends. 

Henry cleared his throat once. “Do you really believe in him that much? After everything he’s done?”

Sirius’ eyes quickly flicked over to Henry, and his face was portraying a solemnity that was rarely there. “I believe in him that much because of everything he’s done. He used his gifts for unsavory purposes, but even so, when that’s what he believed, he threw everything of himself into it. And now that your sister has forcibly opened his eyes, and by proxy mine, he knows exactly what he needs to do to make things right, because he already knows about everything to do that’s wrong. I understand that it’s more complicated for you, because you’ve been more personally victimized by Tom’s actions than I could ever even imagine. But I know that supporting him now is the right thing to do.” He hesitated before adding, “And your sister deserves a better life than being on the run by herself forever. She’s a good person. I want to help find her and keep her safe, and apologize for my part in the things that have happened to her.”

Maybe this wouldn’t be the last time, but it was certainly the first time where Tom’s words hadn’t been enough to win someone over to his side, but Sirius’ had. Henry heaved out a long sigh, and then nodded once. “Alright. I’ll help you. I want to know that she’s okay just as much as you do. But we need to have a solid plan before we take of and get eaten by werewolves, or something. We can’t risk anyone else knowing that we plan to leave, so it has to be kept absolutely secret until the moment we’re gone, and hopefully longer than that if we do it well enough.” He stepped past Tom so that he could give Sirius a scrutinizing look. “Maybe you’re going to think this is selfish of me, but I can’t give up my entire life to be on the run with you lot forever. My parents still need me, and I have a lot of plans for the future. I’m going to make the world a better place for all muggle-borns. I know that Susanna would rather me do that than throw away everything I’ve been working for. And maybe I’ll even be able to clear her name here so that you can all eventually come home, though I have no idea how long that would actually take. Just-” his shoulders slumped down, and he looked suddenly very tired. Clearly everything that had happened since Susanna’s initial arrest was weighing quite heavily on him. “Just take care of her, okay? And since I know that the smug git makes her happy, take care of him too.”

Sirius smiled, and reached out one hand. After a brief moment of hesitation, Henry accepted the handshake. “I swear that I will do everything in my power to make sure that we all make it through the next several years alive, and with the minimal amount of damage.”

Henry nodded once. “Good. Good.” Then he rummaged around in his bag for a blank piece of parchment paper, a bottle of ink, and a quill. “We need to start planning as soon as possible, before her actions become too eratic for me to predict.”

While Henry spoke, Tom kept just enough attention on him to be able to look back and review the conversation in full later on. The rest of his attention was focused on Sirius. He’d always taken it for granted that the older boy would support him in all things forever, and beyond that, he hadn’t cared. If Sirius really believed that he had, then Tom must’ve been an even better actor than he thought. He’d used Sirius, thought of him as nothing more than another side kick or pawn who would do anything that was asked of him. Tom had spent too long not even thinking of Sirius as a real person, not really, and he regretted it now. He wished he could go back and remember every conversation they’d ever had, so that he could know all the things his best friend had deigned important enough to tell him. Maybe it was too late for that now, but if they were going to be on the run together, then that would give Tom time to get to know Sirius in ways he’d only pretended to before. The future they planned for wasn’t going to be easy, but Tom was determined to see this through. In fact, he couldn’t imagine anything better than traveling around freely with his best friend and with Susanna, except for maybe being able to do it legally. 

He did regret how his friendship with Sirius had gone, and he swore to himself that he was going to do better this time. Even after Sirius’ speech, Tom wasn’t really sure of how he’d managed to obtain such fierce loyalty and devotion from the guy, but he wasn’t going to take advantage of that any longer. At least not without figuring out a way to return the favor. He glanced at Sirius for a moment before deciding to put his full attention on Henry, at least for now, until it got too boring or repetitive. They had a damsel to save, and it wouldn’t do to fall into any distractions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took French for a few years in high school, but have basically forgotten everything, and have therefore been relying on Google Translate to do the work for me. 
> 
> _Bonsoir monsieur. Que puis-je te faire?_ should be 'Good evening, sir. What can I get for you?'  
>  _Parlez vous Anglais?_ I think everyone knows is 'Do you speak English?'
> 
> If anyone has more accurate translations, just let me know


	39. Chapter 39

Tom was usually a morning person, but even he didn’t like to be woken up before the sun rose by the sound of something slamming into his stomach and knocking the wind out of him. He bolted upright with his wand in his hand immediately, cursing himself for not being better prepared. Avery and Nott were standing at the foot of his bed, both pointing their wands towards him as well. Maybe it would’ve been safer to not sleep in the Slytherin dorms, though he wasn’t really sure where else he’d be able to go, considering how much the entire rest of the school seemed to hate Slytherins. And he’d assumed that since he had a private room, he wouldn’t have to worry about altercations. 

He kept his voice perfectly calm and steady, despite the fact that he was outnumbered and had been taken by surprise in his bed clothes. “May I help you gentlemen with anything? If you need someone to hold your hand on the way to the toilets, I feel I must insist on telling you that you are better off asking politely.”

Avery sneered. “Screw you, Riddle. Do you know how hard it was to try and convince the others that there was still a chance for your reformation? We got the mudblood out of the way, and we tried hard to remind you of all the great things that you were working towards, but you refuse to cooperate. What the bloody hell is wrong with you? I thought you wanted to purify wizarding culture, and stop the mudblood infestation from tainting everything.”

Tom narrowed his eyes. “I’m a half-blood,” he said conversationally. “My mom was some dumb whore who I never knew, and the only reason I know my muggle father’s name is because my mother decided to name me after him. But he was definitely muggle. And an absolutely horrible person. But it isn’t being a muggle that makes him horrid. Considering the fact that you’re both pureblood wizards while also being horrible people, clearly the clearness of the blood isn’t the cause for the personality deficit.”

“You really want to play the tough guy role when there’s two of us and only one of you?”

Tom blinked once, then shrugged casually, as though he’d been asked what he thought the weather was going to be like today, or something equally mundane. “You honestly think you provide any sort of threat against me when there’s only the two of you? I’ve spent years figuring out the best ways to make each and every one of you suffer individually. I know exactly what to do to take you down without a second thought.” He leapt up to dive out of the way of incoming spells while getting ready to sling a few of his own, but before he was even halfway through the wand motions, he felt a searing pain in his chest.

He cursed under his breath. That stupid vow. Why had he agreed to take it? He should’ve compromised and said that he wouldn’t kill any innocent people, so that he’d still be able to harm them. As it was, he had absolutely no idea what Henry considered to be an ‘innocent person’. He cursed himself for not trying to figure that out sooner. In his defense, there had been so much else going on lately. But it was a pretty lousy defense anyways, because Tom was supposed to be the guy was smart and thought things through in advance and out-maneuvered everyone. 

Instead, he’d just backed himself into a very unpleasant corner. Avery smirked when nothing happened other than Tom’s bed sheets catching fire from where Nott had prematurely shot off a spell. “What was that about being able to take us both down without a second thought?”

That damn spell was going to get Tom killed. If he couldn’t even harm Avery, who was an evil murderer, then what could he possibly do to defend himself from any attacks? It was a good thing that he was leaving soon. It would be more difficult to defend himself out in the wild, but at least he wouldn’t have to worry about Avery and the others who had been Tom’s followers. 

Well, it didn’t make Tom entirely useless. So long as he was equipped with his brain, he was never entirely defenseless. And having magic at his disposal certainly helped too. Just because he couldn’t physically harm them- and boy was that so very aggravating when all he wanted to do was curse Avery to oblivion for destroying everything just when it had been so perfect- didn’t mean that he couldn’t incapacitate them in other ways.

He quickly stunned them both, and then threw pillows down so that they wouldn’t be bruised from hitting the floor. Not ideal, but it would work for now. Then he cast spells to bind them both up tightly, though not so tightly that it would cause damage. That damned vow really was going to cause nothing but problems for Tom.

He snatched both of their wands, and glared down at the two unconscious boys. They were rich purebloods, and would be able to easily replace them. So Tom decided to get his petty satisfactions in where he could, and he gripped both wands tightly before snapping them in half, and then tossing them into the fireplace. No physical harm had been done, and the vow had been satisfied, no matter how annoying it was. 

He waited a few extra seconds to make sure that the wand pieces were actually burning, and then he grabbed a bag out of his trunk to quickly fill up with the few things that he owned. Sirius would probably have some trouble adjusting to the poor lifestyle they would surely be living soon, but Tom was used to poverty so he didn’t think it would be so hard for him to get used to it again.

Once he was ready to go, he went to fetch Sirius. They moved quietly to not wake the other boys in Sirius’ room, and then they hurried out to go to the Ravenclaw dorm. Tom answered the riddle to get inside easily enough, and they quickly and quietly found Henry. Tom cast a silencing spell around them, and then explained what had happened, and why they needed to head out now. If they waited, Avery and Nott would claim that Tom had assaulted them unprovoked, and then he would be in trouble. 

Henry seemed understandably annoyed about being woken up and told that they had to go through with their plans immediately, despite the fact that they hadn’t even finished thinking them entirely out yet. But to his credit, he shoved some stuff in a bag, and followed the two Slytherins through the castle. “I’m surprised you’re leaving behind your snake,” Henry whispered once they were on the first floor again.

Tom jolted at the thought of leaving Nagini behind, and paused mid-step. He couldn’t believe that he’d just let himself entirely forget about her. Even if Susanna was very important to him, Nagini had been around first, and it was thanks to Nagini that he’d been able to learn about the many things that made him special. And if he wasn’t planning on coming back to Hogwarts for a very long time, that would mean that he was basically abandoning her. He’d already explained the gist of the plan, but he hadn’t even told her that he was leaving today before he’d hurried off to get Sirius and Henry. 

After a few seconds, Henry arched one eyebrow, and cautiously reached out to put his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “Hey, are you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you, or…” he trailed off, clearly unsure himself of where he was trying to go with that.

Tom sighed, and shook his head. “No, it’s not your fault. I just feel like a bit of an idiot for the second time today, and beginning to really hate that feeling. No wonder people hate it when I act so condescending towards them.” He kept moving forward with a look of determination on his face. “I hate to leave her, but there’s not much choice. Carrying her around would be a dead giveaway. And the constant traveling around to who knows where would probably only upset her since it would mean being constantly contained in some cage or another. She’ll leave on her own, since she’s smart enough to know that if she doesn’t, Avery might try to hurt her. She can take care of herself.”

Henry offered a comforting smile. “Well, I’m sure she’d appreciate that you’re doing what’s best for her. Though the thought of anyone really knowing their snake so well seems rather unusual.”

Tom shrugged. “That’s just how I am. What can I say? I’m a snake kind of guy.”

Sirius snickered. “Yeah, maybe you don’t want to go around advertising that to everyone. They’ll think that you’re just straight up calling yourself a snake.”

When they got to the front entrance of the school, all three boys paused for a moment as the weight of what they were about to do actually hit them. They were going to run away in the middle of the school year without any sort of protection, and they were going off to find Susanna, who could honestly be anywhere at this point. It was a daunting task. But they were all up for it.

Tom took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. “This was the first thing that was ever truly mine,” he said softly. “Something that I hadn’t stolen, or gotten from a box of used donation clothes or been handed out of charity.” Then he flung it down the hallway, not caring if it broke. Once he was seventeen, he’d just buy a new one anyways, regardless of how attached he’d gotten to the current one.

Sirius gave Tom a brief pat on the shoulder before pulling out his own wand. “It’s best not to carry around reminders of the past anyways, right? And besides, it wasn’t the one I wanted. It wasn’t the one that worked best for me. It’s just the one my parents chose because they said that it looked the most ‘sleek and sophisticated’.” Then he threw his down the hallway as well.

Both Slytherins turned to look at Henry expectantly. He just blinked a couple of times, and then shrugged. “I just left mine in my trunk. Now are we getting out of here, or what?”

Tom rolled his eyes, but was the one to walk through the entrance first, with the other two right behind him. As they stepped out into the cool early morning air, Tom grinned. He was already one step closer to finding Susanna than he had been a minute ago. And he knew without a doubt that he wasn’t going to stop searching until he found her.

,,,

Susanna wasn’t great at reading French, but even she could understand the meaning behind her picture plastered across the front of a newspaper with lots of exclamations in the article heading. There was a picture of Ardin next to hers, though she almost hadn’t recognized him at first because he was so much younger in it. Which made sense. It’s not like the prisoners were often invited out to photo shoots. She frowned down at her picture. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to come to a magical town.

She glanced into the window of a shop she walked past so that she could look at her reflection, and assure herself that no one would mistake her for the escaped murderer. The last thing she needed was to be dragged off to prison again. She wasn’t going to be doing anyone any good in there.

When she’d first realized that she was in France, Susanna had resigned herself to the fact that she was not going to have a very satisfactory life ahead of her. But then she’d realized that her story didn’t need to be over just yet. She had her disguise, which would hold up pretty well, at least among muggles. And muggles wouldn’t even know that she was an escaped criminal anyways. It seemed like a bit of a flaw on the wizarding side to be so desperate to keep themselves separate that they wouldn’t even advertise missing criminals who were supposedly dangerous, but Susanna wasn’t going to complain too much about that when it worked out in her favor.

So it would be easy enough to travel through muggle areas, which the majority of Europe was made up of anyways, and with her disguise and her magic, she could probably even manage to get ahold of enough money to settle down and live a real life. It wouldn’t be the same life as Susanna Matheus’, Hogwarts student, but it would be a life.

But Susanna had another priority first. She knew that she’d never truly feel content with her lot until she dealt with Emilia. Ardin had been right- if Emilia had been planning on some kind of world domination plan, then she would’ve had plenty of time to go through with it by now. And there was the fact that no matter what she looked like or what she’d been through, Emilia was really only about ten years old. Not even old enough to be invited to Hogwarts yet, and already burdened with everything that Susanna had done to her.

When Emilia had first shown up to visit Susanna in Azkaban, it had definitely been a surprise. After years with no contact, why would she expect to suddenly see her sister face to face again? But maybe Emilia had been searching for a discreet way to contact Susanna all this time. Or maybe it had just taken her a few years to get used to her new body. Either way, though, she’d been eager to see Susanna, even if it was only to ask questions. Susanna could use that.

She reached the center of the town square after a few more minutes, and looked around furtively to make sure she was alone. It was pretty late, or early depending on one’s perspective, so it made sense that there was no one else out and about. Then she knelt down on the edge of the large water fountain that had been charmed to be tamper proof, and reached down to sift her hands through the water and pull out a large handful of coins. It was only resistant to magical tampering. Susanna really hoped that someday someone would be put in charge who was smart enough to realize the benefits of embracing a lifestyle that didn’t involve using magic for every single little thing. But again, for now she was just glad that it was something that worked out in her favor.

Pulling all the coins out of a fountain took about an hour, but when she was done, she had a pretty decent amount of money in front of her. She tried off herself and the money, then shoved it all into the first aid kit. She found a back alley to curl up in and get some sleep for a couple of hours, and then she headed off to find the nearest newspaper printer.

It was a small town so there was only one, but Susanna wasn’t going to risk going to any highly populated wizarding areas, where there would be too many wizards trained in spotting disguises. So this would have to do. If Emilia was keeping an eye on the areas surrounding Azkaban, and she should be, then hopefully this would reach her sooner rather than later.

It took a bit of bartering in broken French and English, but she finally managed to secure what she needed. An advertisement containing a message that only a handful of people in the world would understand was going to be sent off to a bigger publication under the name of the man who owned this smaller newspaper. She handed over almost all of the money she’d gotten from the fountain, but it would be worth it if it led Emilia to her.

Once that was all taken care of, Susanna headed out. She didn’t want to stay in an all magical town for too long, since they were much more likely to catch on about the fact that there was something strange about her. It was a pain to walk all the way to the next town, but she didn’t have enough money left to hire a car, and while taking money was one thing, she wasn’t going to steal an entire vehicle. Not that she knew how to drive anyways.

It was already an entire night later by the time Susanna was dragging her feet into her next destination. She had transfigured her remaining coins into muggle money at some point along the road so that she could just duck into the first restaurant she saw to order an entire pitcher of ice water, and a large portion of food. She ate slowly so that she wouldn’t make herself sick, and then wandered towards the first inn she spotted. She pulled a spare shirt out of the kit to transfigure into more muggle money, which these shop owners weren’t protected against the way magical ones were, and booked a room for the night so that she could collapse onto it and go to sleep. It had been a long past few days, and she was very tired.


	40. Chapter 40

Henry unrolled the map he’d packed, and spread it across the table after shoving aside their plates and cups. He scrounged through his bag for a feather quill, but he didn’t grab any ink for it, and instead used the feather as a pointer. “So without knowing which direction she went in immediately after getting out, it’s hard to say for sure where she went. Really, she could be in any number of countries by now. But we know she doesn’t have a wand, which means very minimal access to magic, which means sticking to unpopulated areas to avoid being caught. And I don’t think she’d go back to Scotland, all things considered. That still leaves a wide search area, and we don’t have magic to help us either. I doubt she’d stick with the criminal she escaped with, since he’s apparently a mass murderer, which means she’d head out on her own as soon as possible.” He frowned thoughtfully as he tried to think of more ways to figure out where Susanna was now.

Tom took another sip of his tea before looking down at the map. “Susanna’s very smart and resourceful. And she can be crafty too, when she needs to be. She might not have her own wand, but I don’t think we can assume that she doesn’t have any.”

“She’d have to go into towns eventually, even if it’s just muggle ones. How else would she get food?” Sirius asked before taking an obnoxiously large bite of his sandwich. “Even if she had a wand, she wouldn’t be able to just conjure up food out of nowhere. She’ll need to try and find a job or something, if there’s anyone who will hire a mysterious girl with no paperwork or references.”

Tom shrugged. “Muggles can be pretty dumb sometimes.”

Henry scowled at that. “I thought you had a change in attitude? Because both of my parents are muggles, and I don’t really appreciate you insulting them.”

Both of Henry’s parents weren’t muggles, as Tom very well knew, but he also knew that now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Finding Susanna was the most important thing going on at the moment. He just shrugged. “Sorry.” He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get rid of his instinctive reaction that involved insulting muggles. It was a work in progress, for now.

Henry didn’t look happy with that apology, but he just narrowed his eyes and looked back down at the map. “So I was thinking…” he trailed off to watch in confusion as Sirius suddenly popped up from his seat and walked over to a couple sitting at a table on the other side of the small restaurant. It was too far away to know what was going on without doing anything too conspicuous, so Tom and Henry just stared. 

Sirius finally returned with a newspaper in hand. “Noticed the moving pictures on the front page, so I asked him if I could borrow it.” He laid the paper out on the table so that all three boys could clearly see the picture of Susanna next to some random guy. The article beneath the pictures was about the escape, but didn’t actually give them any more relevant information than they’d gotten from the last article. 

Sirius picked up the paper to crumple it up, but Henry suddenly snatched it away, and stared intensely at the headliner. “This is from last week. It’s not the most recent copy. We need to get a more recent paper.”

“Any reason why, or are you just suddenly really into politics and such?”

Henry frowned. “I don’t know, I just have this feeling like there could be something important in the paper, but it’s obviously not in this one. The problem is that we’ll have to find a magical area to buy a paper, and they might get curious.”

Sirius shook his head. “I doubt it. We’re just wearing normal muggle clothes, so there’s no reason to automatically assume we ran away from school. We could even say we’re old enough to have already graduated from Hogwarts by now. I’m sure no one’s going to question it.”

Henry held up the newspaper. “Do you think that three kids running away from school is big enough news to make the headlines? Because if it is, then we’re definitely going to have something to worry about.”

Tom frowned at yet another detail he hadn’t thought out beforehand. He was really slipping these days. Maybe he had one of those muggle illnesses that usually affected old people and made them forgetful all the time. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” he finally settled on saying. “I don’t think that a few runaways is really that big of a deal. We shouldn’t worry about being in the papers unless it actually happens. Until then, we’ll be cautious, but we’ll also be operating under the assumption that no one has any idea of who we are, or the fact that we’re not supposed to be here.”

The other two boys nodded in agreement, and then Henry added, “But we still should get a newer copy of the paper. I just feel like it’ll be important, and I don’t think we should ignore that kind of feeling.” Then he picked up his map to roll it up into a tight tube. “I think we should find somewhere to get a magical paper, and then figure out where to go next from there.”

They left money behind for their food, and then headed out. They were only carrying small bags to try and avoid looking like runaways, but they had cast enough spells on those bags to be able to bring more stuff than it would appear at first glance. 

After leaving the restaurant, it didn’t take them very long to find their way to a magical town called Anerbatthe. They agreed that Henry was probably the least likely to stand out, so he found a newspaper stand, and bought copies of several different publications. He wasn’t sure which one would soothe the urgent feeling building up in him, but he hoped for the best. 

He made his way back to Sirius and Tom, and they spread out all of the papers on the ground in front of them, skimming through the articles and passing around random pages and investigating the differences between each paper, all in the hopes that something would stand out, and explain why Henry had been so certain that he would find answers. 

After they’d been sitting there for a while, Tom shoved aside a page of personal notices, and it landed on top of a riveting home improvement article Henry had been reading. But then Henry’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a sharp gasp of air that had both of the other boys immediately looking over at him with some concern. “I didn’t see anything interesting on that page. What did you find? And do you even know how to read French?”

Henry picked up the page to hold it closer to his face so that he would have an easier time reading it out loud. “There’s a few things on here in English. ‘Flustered miss seeking mysterious stranger: To the one who I kept seeing in all the wrong places, who asked me what we were doing there, I must apologize. I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt. If you’re still interested in getting your answers, know that I am interested in getting my own as well. You’ll find me by the well of immortality and youthfulness, surrounded by all the stuffing and secrets I stole from Sir Hardyface. I’ll be there for three weeks, and I hope you’ll show up too. By the way, thanks for all the memories.’”

Tom couldn’t stop himself from giving Henry a look that made it clear he thought the Ravenclaw boy was a complete idiot. “That sounded like total nonsense. Must’ve been a bad translation or something.”

Henry quickly shook his head. “It isn’t nonsense, though! It’s a message from Susanna! You probably won’t believe me, but it has to be! I’m not sure who exactly it’s supposed to be addressed to, maybe our… grandfather, or maybe someone else. But Sir Hardyface was the name of our younger sister’s favorite teddy bear. After Emilia died, our parents wanted to bury her with the stuffed animal, but Susanna kicked up a big fuss about how they couldn’t do that, and she ended up ripping the toy open, pulling out all of the stuffing, and then sewing it back up so the outside could still be buried. I always thought she just did out of of grieving craziness, but maybe there was something else hidden in there too? And the well of immortality and youthfulness! Most people would just call it the ‘fountain of youth’ since that’s what it is in the legends, but when we were all younger, our family went on a vacation to France. The place we stayed out had a forest right in the backyard, so we were always exploring. Most of the time, I had to carry around Emilia, but we all had fun there. And then we found some old abandoned well, and my sisters begged me to tell them stories about it, so I used what I knew, but I couldn’t remember the specific term for ‘fountain of youth’. These things can’t all be a coincidence. Whoever it is that Susanna was trying to contact, she’s letting them know that she’ll be near that well in France for the next three weeks. Though there can’t be a lot of people who’d be able to figure all of that out…” he trailed off as he got lost in thought.

Tom snatched the paper out of Henry’s hands to read for himself, and it just said exactly what the other boy had already read out loud. He looked over at Sirius. “Do you think that this could really be from Susanna?”

Sirius shrugged. “I’m not going to claim to know her as well as either of you do. But it’s a better lead than anything else we’ve got right now, and,” he turned to look at Henry. “If you’re really so certain that it’s her, then it can’t hurt to check out the place you have in mind. Worst case scenario, no one’s there.”

With that decided on, the boys tore out the personal ad, and then threw away the rest of the newspaper pages that they’d scattered around. Now all they needed to do was figure out just how exactly they were going to get into France to the place where Henry was sure Susanna would be waiting for them.

,,,

Sleeping in the woods wasn’t actually all that uncomfortable. Though it probably helped that she’d brought a few blankets and pillows along with her. As soon as she’d sent out her message to Emilia, she’d gotten as much supplies as she thought she’d need, and booked it to this spot, where she planned on staying until the end of the entire three weeks that she’d promised. Though the fact that it had already been two entire weeks had her pretty worried. What if Emilia hadn’t understood the message? What if she hadn’t even been keeping up with the news enough to read the paper? What if she just didn’t care enough to make the effort? Or what if she’d been too young when they’d last been here to even remember the trip or anything they’d talked about at that time?

She rolled over, and decided that it would be better to wake up and get ready for the day than to lie around and pretend to be able to sleep. The woods were peaceful enough to sleep in at night, but during the day there were all kinds of noises to keep her awake. And besides that, she didn’t want to miss it if Emilia did show up. It would be just Susanna’s luck to sleep through the visit, and for Emilia to leave without talking to her first.

Susanna pulled up some water from the well, which was surprisingly clean considering the fact that there didn’t seem to be anyone who maintained it. She used a spell to purify it anyways, though, just to be on the safe side, and then used half the water to scrub herself clean, and the other half to boil for tea. She made herself a small breakfast after assessing how much food she had left, and then once that was done, she cleared everything up.

Now was for the most interesting part of the day. She didn’t want to go too far away in case anyone came to the well while she was gone, but she also couldn’t just sit around doing literally nothing all day if she didn’t want to go out of her mind. She’d brought a couple of books with her, but she’d already finished them, and wasn’t interested in a re-read.

Instead, she tucked the first aid kit into a little spot she’d dug out near the base of the well, and then headed out through the woods. She checked on all the wards she’d set up to make sure that they were still working properly, and that they would alert her if anyone else crossed over them. 

It had been a long time since she’d last been through these woods, and she felt the urge to explore every inch of them. It was a place with good memories with all three of the children in their family. One of the few places like that, thanks to the fact that Emilia had died when she was only four years old. 

Susanna laughed as she pictured the look on her mother’s face that would be there if she could see the way that her daughter was climbing trees and wearing pants and running around making a nuisance of herself. She’d say that muggles have strange ideas about gender roles, but she knew that magical people thought similarly about it, so it wasn’t strange, just wrong.

Susanna grinned as she reached the very top of the tallest tree she’d found so far, and pushed her head up so she emerged through the branches and leaves, and was given a wonderful view of the entire forest. It looked like something out of a fairy tale book. No wonder her parents had chosen this place for their family vacation. 

As she basked in the glory that came with reaching the top, she was startled by a small jolting feeling in her stomach. Someone had crossed over her wards. There was no way of knowing who they were, or if they were magical or not. But no one else had shown up in the entire time Susanna had been here, so there was no reason to believe that some random stranger had wandered by.

Still, she wasn’t going to act stupid about it. She leapt from the tree, relishing in the way the wind whipped her hair around the way it did when she flew on her broom. Then she cast a spell at the last moment to turn the air around her into a giant cushion so that she could land safely on the ground. It would’ve taken way too long to climb back down the tree the normal way.

Then she cast a few charms to hide the sounds she made, including the crunch of her footsteps on dead leaves, and ran back to the well. She’d left small marks on some of the trees so that she’d know which way to go. When she was close enough, she ducked behind a tree, and then peered out to see if Emilia had finally shown up. Her eyes widened at the sight of someone she never thought she’d see again, and she couldn’t stop her feet from moving her closer to the first person in a while who’d be able to provide her with any real comfort. “Mom?”


	41. Chapter 41

Tolli Matheus had never considered herself to be a particularly brave woman. From the time she’d been born, she’d learned all about magic. For a couple of years, she’d thought that there could be nothing more amazing than watching her parents accomplish otherwise impossible tasks with just a flick of their wands and a few muttered words. Her parents had never lived together, never even been married, but she saw both of them often enough to think of them as her mother and father, even though her mother ended up married when Tolli was only a few years old, and Tolli grew to think of that muggle man as her dad as well. 

It wasn’t until she was a little bit older that she learned there was something wrong with her. She wasn’t able to do magic the way either of her parents were. Her mother didn’t seem to care, and her birth father claimed the same, though there was always a hint of disappointment in his eyes. 

After her eleventh birthday, when everyone was absolutely certain that Tolli had never and would never be able to do magic, she learned that there was a word for people like her. She was a squib. It sounded like some kind of disease the way some of the other kids her age said it. Even though she loved the idea of magic, she hadn’t been able to stand the idea of growing up and watching everyone else be able to do the impossible while she was stuck being unable to do anything. 

So she’d begged her mother to enroll her in a completely muggle school, where no one would believe that magic was real. Her mother had been resistant to the idea, but her dad had argued in her favor. He’d been raised entirely in muggle schools and had ended up just fine, so if that’s what Tolli wanted, then she should be allowed to do it.

Her mother finally gave in, and even though it made Tolli feel like a coward, she’d transferred to an all muggle school. A few years passed like that in relative peace, until the day Tolli finally realized who her birth father truly was. She hadn’t seen him in a while, and thought it would be nice to pay him a surprise visit. She walked in on him killing some other wizard in cold blood. She’d run then, not wanting to stick around and hear any explanations.

Her mom told her that her birth father was considered a terrorist by some. That he had ideals that went against what many others believed in, and was willing to spill blood everywhere if it meant achieving his goals. Tolli decided that she never wanted to see him again. She already had a mom and a dad and she didn’t need a terrorist for a father on top of that.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite so easy to just stop seeing someone as powerful as her father, no matter what his opinions on the matter were. Maybe he was disappointed to have a squib for his only child, but he still wanted her to be a part of his life. Tolli didn’t want that, though, and her mother grew scared of what her father might do in his desperation.

It wasn’t an easy decision, but her mom and dad eventually decided that it would be safest for all of them to move somewhere else. They found a nice, quaint little muggle neighborhood, and Tolli’s mother learned to only do magic within the safety of their home. Her dad seemed very pleased to go from stuffy wizard neighbors to normal muggle neighbors that he could understand and talk to without being constantly looked down on for being a muggle.

Tolli finished high school, and had a handful of muggle friends she’d made over the years. Then she insisted on going off to college, because she wanted to be a college professor herself. It took a lot of work, and involved hearing a lot of people tell her how much they were looking forward to seeing her fail, but Tolli was determined to succeed. 

And it was then, during college, that she met Zach. He was so handsome and charming, and she wanted to spend every minute of every day with him. And when she found out that he felt the same, it was one of her happiest memories. Suddenly they were glued to the hip, and everything seemed perfect. 

Zach let her in on the fact that he was actually a wizard, and Tolli couldn’t help wondering if there would ever be a day that she wasn’t drawn towards magic. Her jealousy soon faded when she saw just how amazing some of the things Zach could do were. His seduction of Tolli was very thorough, and she ended up falling into bed with him, even though she’d been told a thousand times growing up that women were supposed to wait until they were married to do such a thing.

At first, there was no problem. Life continued on the same as before, and Tolli and Zach remained completely in love. Then everything fell apart when Tolli realized that she was pregnant. What if the baby was a squib just like her? Was she disappointing them just by being their parent? And what about Zach? He came from a pureblood wizarding family that would never accept a bastard half blood, let alone a bastard squib. She knew that Zach would leave everything behind if she asked him to, but she also knew that it would be too horribly selfish to ask such a thing of him.

She told him about the pregnancy, if only to let him know that there was a problem, but he proposed to her on the spot. Tolli felt like she had no idea what she could possibly do. If she said yes, she’d be dooming Zach to be shunned by his family and many others in wizard society, and she would ruin his entire life. So she did the cowardly thing, and she lied. Said that she was seeing someone else. Ended things right on the spot.

It broke Tolli’s heart to break Zach’s, but she didn’t know what else she could have done. After that, she approached one of her classmates who had always shown interest in her. She’d only ever had eyes for Zach, though, so it was difficult to act as though she cared about Jacob. She couldn’t even admit that she was bearing someone else’s child, because she knew that no sane man would stay with her, and she wouldn’t be able to blame them.

She went to bed with Jacob as quickly as possible, and then claimed that she was pregnant with his child. He had no reason to not believe her, and no matter how sick Tolli felt with herself, she accepted his proposal. Tolli didn’t tell him anything about the magical world, and insisted that her mother refrain from using any magic around Jacob. She didn’t want him to be a part of any of that. And she wanted to be able to forever associate magic with Zach.

Years passed in supposed domestic bliss. Tolli knew Jacob loved her, and she was fond of him as well, though she could never truly forget about Zach. Though she couldn’t help resenting him, just a little, for insisting that she stay home and care for her son instead of continuing her education, and her dream of becoming a professor was soon washed away.

Then when Henry was a year old, he showed signs of accidental magic. Tolli had seen enough of that from her magical peers growing up to recognize it for what it was. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to really raise him the way that he deserved. Not with Jacob as her husband. So without saying a word, she packed her bags and ran, grabbing Henry and tracking down Zach.

She explained that she was still in love with him, and that everyday they were apart felt like a day that she was dying. They got together again, and for a few weeks, Tolli felt overwhelmingly happy. But of course, things were always fated to go wrong for her. Being with Zach meant that she was much closer to the magical world than she had been in years, and she heard that her father was still searching for her. He was too dangerous, and it was too big of a risk to stay. But she wanted Henry to be raised right, so she begged Zach to take in his son. He would be safer with his birth father, who could use magic to protect him against anything that might mean him harm. She explained that she suspected Henry to have magic, and that Zach would be a better caretaker to a magical child. And in the short time they’d spent together, she could already see that Zach greatly cared about his son.

But Zach refused, and Tolli couldn’t really blame him. She knew that it all had to sound so ridiculous. Just before she left with Henry, she found out that she was pregnant. If she thought that that would somehow sway Zach, she was very wrong. It only made him more angry, the way he spoke made it sound like he thought she had only slept with him to get pregnant.

Tolli couldn’t commit herself to Zach, not knowing how it would simultaneously put her too close to the magical world, while tearing Zach too far away from it. And since she couldn’t commit, she couldn’t stay. Tolli returned home defeated. She found Jacob waiting for her, worried sick. She apologized, and begged his forgiveness for taking off. It didn’t take much after that to convince him that the child in her belly was his as well.

Susanna was born and Tolli thought she was perfect. Smart, beautiful, kind, thoughtful. Everything someone could want in a child. Henry was very intelligent and charming and handsome, but he could get a little bit too lost in his research or in his own head sometimes. 

When Susanna was seven, and Henry was nine, the newest addition to their household arrived. Even the youngest child, Emilia, wasn’t Jacob’s daughter though. Tolli didn’t hate Jacob, but she didn’t love him, and found that it helped get rid of some of her frustrations with her life if she took chances, and got the adrenaline of sneaking around. She didn’t even know what Emilia’s father’s name was. And if anyone thought it odd that Emilia didn’t bear as much resemblance to her siblings as they did to each other, no one said anything. Parentage didn’t seem to matter much anyways, considering how Emilia and Susanna were so very close with each other.

The day Henry got his letter to Hogwarts, Tolli thought she might have a heart attack. After those first few bursts of accidental magic as a young child, he hadn’t shown any sign of magical aptitude. But maybe she just hadn’t been looking hard enough. At that point, there was no way to continue hiding the magical world from Jacob, though it was easy enough to just act as though it was all new to her as well. 

Henry excelled in the wizarding school, and Tolli was happy to see him so happy. And then soon enough it was Susanna’s turn to get a letter. It was less surprising this time, because Susanna had been using accidental magic practically from the day she was born up until the day she got her wand. Tolli brought Susanna to her mother for a celebratory dinner, and her mom ended up giving the girl a mysterious present that neither of them would tell her about. 

When they went shopping for the school supplies both children would need for the year, everyone suddenly thought it was a big deal that Tolli and Jacob were two muggles who had two magical children. It’s not like Tolli was going to mention that she was actually a squib, or that both children actually had a pureblood wizard for a father. 

Then September rolled around. It was more difficult than she’d expected to see both of Zach’s kids go off to school. She had learned that Zach actually worked at Hogwarts, starting a few years before Henry’s first year, but she had no idea if he’d recognize the children or not. She didn’t know which way she would prefer it.

And then. Tolli had always assumed that watching her birth father kill a man would be the most traumatic thing to happen to her, but she was wrong, and she wished that she hadn’t been wrong. Emilia, who was only four years old and should’ve had a long life ahead of her had died. One day she was there, weeping over the fact that she couldn’t see her older sister all the day, and the next day, she was dead. Tolli knew it was because of Susanna’s letter, but she couldn’t blame Susanna for what had happened. Well. Maybe she blamed the girl just a little bit at first. But then her children had come home for the funeral, and she’d seen the devastation on their faces, and knew that she couldn’t blame Susanna.

Tolli thought she might never recover from the loss of her baby girl, and she was afraid that Susanna wouldn’t either. Especially after that stunt where she’d destroyed Emilia’s toy. Tolli worried about sending her daughter back to school, where she wouldn’t have the support and comfort she needed. But Jacob convinced her that Susanna could do with the distraction school would provide, and that he and Tolli needed time alone to grieve without having to worry about taking care of their other kids.

Somehow, despite the fact that Jacob had raised all three kids thinking they were his own, it had never really occurred to Tolli just how much it would ruin him to lose one of them. But they really were his children, no matter who had given their DNA to create them. 

It was hard, really hard, to move on after Emilia’s death. And having a house completely free of any noise or childish laughter didn’t really help. But she knew Henry and Susanna needed time to mourn on their own, so she let them stay and finish the school year. Things were never okay after that, not really, but they eventually moved forward together, and were able to talk about Emilia with completely freaking themselves out.

And things went well for the next couple of years. Tolli should’ve known that things could never go so well for too long. Not in her life, anyways. She was contacted by the school to let her know that Susanna had been viciously attacked by as yet uncaught students. They had hurt her pretty badly, and she was informed by someone with far too clinical a tone that the word ‘mudblood’ was permanently scarred across her daughter’s stomach. That was infinitely worse than ‘squib’. Tolli was outraged, and wanted to storm down to the school and demand answers and punishment for those responsible. She had just come so close to losing her other daughter without even knowing it.

There was a very short period of time after that where things seemed okay, and then they spiraled out of control faster than Tolli could even begin to keep track of. Suddenly Susanna’s best friend was dead, murdered in the school, soon after followed by the headmaster of the school himself. And then Susanna was arrested, and claimed to have commited the murders. As a mother, Tolli knew that there was no way her daughter was capable of such a thing. But as someone who’d felt so betrayed by her father’s actions, she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps Susanna took after Tolli’s father more than anyone could’ve predicted.

Then there was the farce of a trial. So many people claiming that Susanna was perfectly capable of commiting cold blooded murder. And Susanna’s performance on the stand- and it had to be a performance, didn’t it? It couldn’t possibly be the truth, right?- was so blood chilling in its authenticity. Hopefully Susanna was just a greater actor than anyone had ever known, though there’s no reason anyone in their right mind would want to be locked up in Azkaban. Tolli had heard more than enough stories about the prison to know that it was inhumane and nearly unsurvivable.

But the worst part about the entire trial had been watching her father walk into the room like he owned the place. By then, she hadn’t seen him in almost thirty years, and yet, he looked exactly the same as she remembered him. He’d sounded so calm when he addressed her, giving her another chance to be by his side. But she had never wanted to be by his side; that was why she’d left in the first place. And then Susanna had acted as though she’d known her grandfather for years, and seemed perfectly fine with him regardless of who he was. That’s when Tolli couldn’t help wondering if maybe Susanna was actually a murderer after all.

Whether she truly committed the crimes or not, though, hearing that her daughter would be locked up in Azkaban was gut-wrenching. And yet, there was nothing Tolli could do but sit by and watch as Susanna’s wand was broken, and she was dragged away to the place where she would most likely die.

She hadn’t been expecting to hear that Susanna had broken out of prison. It was supposed to be impossible to break out of Azkaban. And Susanna had never seemed like the type of person to run from the consequences of her actions, and yet, that’s exactly what she was doing now. Tolli ignored everything about the man Susanna had run with, knowing that he had just been a tool for escape. Tolli knew well enough about using men as tools, as much as she hated herself for admitting that.

And then she’d seen that personal ad in a newspaper, and had known immediately that it had to be Susanna. She wasn’t sure who Susanna was trying to get in touch with, since there were very few people who would understand that message, but Tolli didn’t care. All she knew was that she needed to find her daughter.

With no job or kids at home to worry about, it was easy enough to convince Jacob that she needed a break from all the awful things that had happened recently, and she ran to France as fast as she could. It had been a while since she’d last been in this country, but she knew exactly where to go. When she first arrived, there was no sign of Susanna, and Tolli started to second guess herself, but then she heard the rustling of leaves, and she turned to see her daughter step out from behind the cover of a tree. “Mom?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk why I just thought we really needed a chapter from Henry and Susanna’s mom’s pov lol


	42. Chapter 42

Maybe her mom wasn’t exactly the last person she’d ever expected to find waiting for her by the well, but she was definitely somewhere near the top of that list. It hadn’t even occurred to her that the other people who might understand her message would come. It was a good thing Henry was in school where he would have no access to French newspapers without specifically purchasing one, which he would have no reason to do, or else she might have to worry about her brother coming after her next. 

Even though there was a tense feeling in the air, and Susanna wasn’t stupid enough to think that she wasn’t the cause of it, she couldn’t resist the urge to drop all pretenses and dash forward to pull her mother into a hug. She felt like it had been years since the last time she’d hugged her mom. 

Tolli seemed slightly startled by Susanna’s reaction, but she seemed to get over it quickly enough, and she returned the hug by wrapping her arms tightly around Susanna, and dropping her forehead so it was resting against the top of Susanna’s head. “I’ve missed you so much, my darling,” Tolli said softly.

“I’ve missed you too, Mom.”

After their hug stretched on for much longer than Susanna had originally planned, she finally peeled herself away, and then plopped down on the ground, motioning for her mother to do the same. They both sat in silence for a long moment, simply taking in the comfort of each other’s company. Then Tolli finally broke the quiet. “What the hell is going on, Susanna? First you’re attacked at school, and then your best friend dies, and you confess to the murders, and go to jail, and then escape, but then leave a cryptic note to meet here? Please just tell me what’s going on.”

Susanna sighed, and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them. “It’s kind of a long and complicated story, and you’ll probably hate me if I tell you.”

There was only the slightest moment of hesitation before Tolli shook her head adamantly. “I could never hate you. Your my daughter. I just want to protect you, but I can’t do that if I don’t even know what’s going on with you.”

Susanna sighed again. “Grandfather said…” then she trailed off and tried to think of somewhere else to start. She knew that her mother and grandfather didn’t have a great relationship, even if Grindelwald hadn’t given her any specific details. The fact that Tolli had never once mentioned her dad in the entirety of Susanna’s life seemed proof enough of the distance between them. And she knew that regardless of what Tolli might say now, the woman was going to hate Susanna once the whole story was out there, so she figured that she may as well start with something easier. “I didn’t actually kill Myrtle or the headmaster.”

If Susanna wasn’t mistaken, Tolli let out a brief sigh of relief. Had Susanna’s performance during the trial really been so good that she’d convinced her own parents that she was a murderer? “So why did you confess then? I don’t understand.”

Susanna hated the helpless tone to her mother’s voice, and wished that she hadn’t been the one to put it there. Not only was she a terrible sister, but she was also a terrible daughter. Being away at Hogwarts most of the year the past couple of years had somehow made her forget about the way her actions would affect everyone in her life. “I knew that the real murderer was never going to go down for it, and that there was no point in even trying because it would only make him lash out at the people I care about. And it was also the perfect opportunity. I needed to be punished for what I’ve done. I may not have killed Myrtle and the headmaster, but I did kill Emilia.”

“You didn’t,” her mother hurried to interrupt. “You aren’t responsible for what happened. You were just a child- you still are just a child- and you simply wrote a letter that your sister took too seriously. You didn’t tell her to jump out in front of a moving car, and you weren’t driving the car that hit her, and you had no intention of ever seeing her get hurt, so it isn’t your fault. If you never believe anything else in your entire life, then I hope you’ll at least believe that.”

Hearing her mom try to convince her that Emilia’s death wasn’t her fault actually hurt a bit. Susanna knew that it was her fault, and being told otherwise just meant that her mom was trying to cover up for the fact that she knew it was Susanna’s fault. But Emilia’s death, as horrific as it had been, wasn’t the biggest mistake Susanna had made regarding her younger sister. “Let’s just agree to disagree,” she offered quietly. “But that’s not what I needed to be punished for. I mean, I already punish myself for that stupid letter everyday of my life. But what I did after was worse.” She took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “Your dad is infamous, and powerful, and he told me that you knew all about his magic. You’re not as clueless about it all as you’ve always pretended to be. But even if you knew nothing about magic, you’d probably know that what I’m about to say is awful.” She paused for a moment, wanting to savor the last time her mother would be able to look at her without hatred and disgust in her eyes. Because Susanna knew that that’s how any sane person would react. “I tried to bring her back to life.”

Tolli gasped, and leaned back slightly, staring at Susanna with wide eyes. “You what? But that’s not even possible!”

“I’m not the most powerful witch in the world, but I’m talented enough, and I’ve read a lot of books over the years. Back then, I tried to bring her back to life. And I even- I sort of succeeded. Her body was too damaged, so I put her in some other recently buried corpse, and she was alive again, and could talk and walk around and do magic, and she even has a patronus which I never in a million years would’ve expected her to be capable of. But she isn’t right. She was a lot different than the Emilia that we knew and loved. Darker. And I can’t even blame her for that, because I’m the one who messed up so horribly and did that to her, but I wrote that notice in the paper because I wanted her to come here and talk to me. She came to see me in Azkaban, and it was the first time I saw her at all since I brought her back. She wants to know about the ritual I used, and I turned her down at the time, but now I want to help her, because I’m the one who ruined her in the first place, and I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin everything, and I hate myself so much for what I did, and I’m so sorry, and…” she couldn’t continue talking through all the tears and sobs. She wasn’t even sure when she’d started crying.

Susanna squeezed her eyes shut, and buried her face in her knees, waiting for the sound of rustling leaves, and the feeling of someone passing through her wards as Tolli walked away. Because there’s no way she’d want to stick around after realizing that Susanna was so despicable. Tolli had hated Grindelwald for using dark magic, or at least that’s what Susanna thought to be the case, so there was no reason for her to not hate Susanna for it as well. And Tolli had to know that there was no way to raise someone from the dead without using dark magic. 

Susanna was startled when she felt the familiar comfort of her mother’s arms wrapping around her, and she slowly opened her eyes to peer at Tolli in confusion. “What are you doing? Didn’t you just hear what I said?”

Tolli offered a sad smile, and then raised one arm to card her hand gently through Susanna’s tangled up hair. “I don’t hate you,” she whispered. “And to be quite honest, I can’t really blame you for what you did. If I had magic, I doubt that I would’ve been able to just shut up and accept the fact that my baby was dead.” She sighed, and continued to hug Susanna. “I already lost one child, and I refuse to lose anymore if I can help it.” She looked around the well, and then glanced back at Susanna. “Did she already come here?”

Susanna shook her head. “No. Will you…?” then she trailed off, knowing that it would be unfair to ask her mom to stick around and see the reanimated body of a complete stranger acting vaguely like Emilia. 

Tolli must’ve understood what Susanna was going to ask, though, because she gently disentangled herself from her daughter, and scooted back a little bit. “I’m sorry but I can’t stay. I just- I just can’t. I know that I’m a coward, but I can’t.”

Susanna shrugged. “It’s okay. I wasn’t-” she cut herself off before she could say anything that could come across as overly offensive. She was just so relieved that her mother didn’t hate her, and she didn’t want to do anything that might mess that up. “I’m glad you came,” she said instead.

Tolli reached up to rub at the tears running down her own cheeks, and then slowly stood up. “I’m staying at the same hotel we stayed at during our family vacation here. When everything’s resolved, meet me there, and we’ll figure out what to do next.”

The fact that her mother wasn’t completely abandoning her was far better than Susanna could’ve ever expected, and she stood up to give her mom another hug. “Thank you so much. I hope that all of this is over as soon as possible.”

Tolli smiled sympathetically, and then turned to walk away without another word. Susanna wasn’t sure what she’d expected to happen when she saw her mom standing there waiting for her, but this was probably the best she was going to get, and she was grateful for how much it was. 

As soon as her mother was gone, Susanna was startled by someone tapping her on the shoulder, and she whirled around, knocking herself off balance when she tripped over her own ankle. Emilia had to reach out and grab the front of Susanna’s shirt to pull her back upright, and then stared down at her with one eyebrow raised. “Since when are you so klutzy.”

Susanna just stared for a few seconds before she regained her senses, and took a small step back. “You came. How long have you been here?” She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she realized that she’d definitely only felt one person trigger the wards, and that had been her- their- mother. 

Emilia shrugged. “A couple days. I wasn’t sure exactly what to think about your little personal ad in the paper, and I wanted to scope out the situation. Make sure you weren’t setting up some kind of weird trap for me. And you sounded pretty honest talking to Mother dearest, so I’m willing to believe that you wanted nothing more than an exchange of information.” She spread her arms out to the sides. “So? What did you want to talk about?”

It was so strange to attempt a civil conversation with an abomination that went against nature and the laws of the universe, but somehow, this creature was still Susanna’s sister, despite how different she looked in this body, and Susanna was going to make this work. “Since you came to visit me, I’ve been wondering about something. You talk and act like someone a lot older than nine. Why is that?”

Emilia glanced around at the ground, and then sat down so that she was perched on the edge of the well. “Who knows? My personal theory is that you might’ve gotten a bit of whoever this was,” she gestured to her body, “mixed up with me. But I’m not an expert at soul work. You’re not either, obviously, but between the two of us, only one of us have actually succeeded even a little bit at working with them. So is it my turn to ask a question now? How about you tell me every detail you can remember of that ritual you used?”

“Why do you even want to know? To raise up an entire army of the dead and take over the world?”

Emilia stared at Susanna with wide eyes for a moment before letting out a loud laugh. “Are you kidding me? Is that why you’ve been so stubborn all this time? You thought I had some secret nefarious plans and that it was just you standing between me and total domination of the planet?” She kept laughing. “Jesus, you are such an idiot sometimes, I swear. I want that stupid ritual because as far as I can tell, it’s the only thing keeping me alive.”

Susanna frowned. “What are you talking about?” Her stomach was still twisting in knots just at the thought of actually talking to her sister, and the knots got worse as her mind flicked through all the possibilities of what Emilia’s words might mean. 

Emilia just kept looking at Susanna like she was a total moron. “Did you really think that I wanted to exist like this? Living some kind of half-life because I’m so messed up? I couldn’t go anywhere near home because you used the body of someone from our hometown, and even if I feel more mature most of the time, I don’t really know all that much about how the world works. Nobody ever taught me how to have a job or pay taxes or whatever. Nobody taught me how to survive on my own, because I was only four years old when I died. And I can barely sleep because everytime I close my eyes, I get these nightmares of things that shouldn’t be real, but that seem to haunt me everywhere I go. I get that this isn’t what you were expecting when you got it into your head to bring me back, I really do. But good intentions don’t change the fact that my entire existence is a miserable, lonely thing. I’ve tried to off myself so many times, but I can’t because of whatever spell you used.”

As Emilia spoke, Susanna couldn’t help raising her hand to cover her mouth as she listened to her sister. She was so selfish to have never considered anything but herself. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for what I did to you.” She’d already ruined everything by sending Emilia that letter, but she should’ve just left well enough alone at that point. Right now, she couldn’t let herself keep being selfish. She’d asked Emilia to come here to tell her about the ritual, and she’d been honest in wanting to help. So she cleared her throat, and wiped away at the tears on her face. “I can tell you every single detail of what I did for the ritual, but I don’t think it’ll work without my crown.”

Emilia narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Remember when we were younger, and I first got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts and Mom brought me to finally meet Grandmother, and Grandmother gave me that old crown? She said it was a family heirloom, and you always called me a princess when I would wear it? Well, I think that that is what made the ritual actually work. It sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. Unfortunately, I wasn’t exactly allowed to pack a bag before heading off to Azkaban. It’s probably still with the rest of my stuff at school, unless they already handed everything over to Mom and Dad.”

Emilia sighed. “I’d say that that sounds like some stupid excuse, but I believe you. Write out the entire rest of the ritual for me now, though. It’s worth at least letting me see it. Using it exactly the same way wouldn’t help, but if I figure which parts attached my soul to this body, then maybe I can figure out how to change those parts to have the opposite effect.”

Susanna couldn’t help looking at her sister with teary eyes. “Is that really what you want? I mean, I know you probably hate me, but I’m going to have to live off the grid for the rest of my life, so I could help you too. We could get jobs together, and figure everything out together, and-”

“Stop, Susanna. Life doesn’t always work out with a perfect, happy little fairy tale ending. I don’t want to keep being alive. Of course I wish that I’d never died in the first place, but I did, and the natural order of things says that I should’ve stayed that way. You did this to me in the first place, so you owe it to me now to try and help me reverse it.”

Susanna nodded once. “Yeah, you’re right.” She felt like her heart was breaking, but she knew that Emilia was right. Susanna grabbed some parchment and a quill and ink from her first aid kit, and then started writing down every single detail she could remember from the day she’d brought Emilia sort of back to life. She owed it to her younger sister to do this for her. And maybe, if Susanna was lucky, someday she’d be able to stop hating herself for all of this enough to actually live a semi-normal life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the entire chapter became Susanna’s without me meaning for it to lol


	43. Chapter 43

Tom thought that maybe his heart was just going to stop beating when he caught sight of Susanna. It felt like something out of a dream. He hadn’t expected to find that she would actually be here, right where Henry had predicted. It felt like it had been years since he’d last seen her, and even if they’d only really been together for a very short amount of time, Tom knew that Susanna was very important to him.

But he didn’t want to just rush forward and startle her. She was a smart person, and had probably set out some wards or traps to keep people from just wandering around and bumping into her. That, and there was the fact that she was currently sitting next to a complete stranger. Tom had never seen the other woman before, and he couldn’t help wondering who it was. Henry had said that there were very few living people who would be able to understand Susanna’s message. Was that woman the one Susanna had been trying to contact in the first place?

After a few minutes, Tom glanced back at Henry, who was busy looking back and forth from his newspaper clipping to his map. He could tell the exact moment that Henry looked up and spotted his sister, because his face ran through an entire myriad of emotions before settling on radiant joy.

Before Tom could even remind Henry, who was supposed to be smart, that Susanna probably hadn’t left herself completely vulnerable, he dashed forward towards Susanna, not even caring to stop and discuss who the other woman might be. Maybe he already knew who it was, though that only made Tom more curious to find out. He motioned for Sirius to stay behind while he followed after Henry. None of them had their wands, and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to the other boy.

Tom could feel the very faint sensation of something brushing over his skin as he passed through what had to be Susanna’s wards, and then walked right up next to Henry, who was just standing there and staring at Susanna with a big, stupid grin on his face. Susanna looked like she didn’t know how to feel, but after a very long pause, she shoved aside the parchment and quill that had been balanced on her lap, and leapt up to pull her brother into a tight hug. Tom wasn’t too bothered by the fact that she’d gone for Henry first. She had known him longer, and they were family. 

The hug stretched on for much longer than Tom would have anticipated, but he really couldn’t begrudge them sharing this moment. But the other woman who was there stood up slowly, and stared at Susanna and Henry for a moment with a look of slight confusion. Then she turned to look at Tom, and she narrowed her eyes, which sent shivers down his spine. “Who the hell are you?”

Susanna finally peeled herself away from her brother, and cautiously reached out to rest a hand on the woman’s arm, like she wasn’t sure if she had permission to do so. “It’s okay, he’s a friend.” Then she turned to look at Tom, and the moment their eyes met, it felt like the entire world may as well have frozen in place. He found himself walking over to Susanna before he was even aware of the fact that his legs were moving. The moment they were close enough, Tom spread his arms out to pull Susanna into a hug. She surprised him by leaping up and pressing a kiss against his lips instead. He immediately returned it. They didn’t pull apart until they were both about to run out of air, and then Susanna’s face flushed pink as she must’ve remembered their audience.

Henry had averted his eyes awkwardly when Susanna and Tom started kissing, but once they were done he looked at them again, and then his eyes flicked over to the stranger. “I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but who are you?”

The woman arched one eyebrow, and then let out a barking laugh that sounded far from amused. “Are you sure you don’t recognize me?” she asked in a taunting tone. Even though Tom had no idea what was going on, even he could see that there seemed to be some history between the woman and the Matheus children.

“Leave him alone,” Susanna snapped. “You know perfectly well that he doesn’t know anything, or you would have taken the much easier route of trying to approach him instead of breaking into prison to find me.”

Henry looked back and forth between the two females, and he couldn’t hide the unease on his face. “Susanna, what’s going on? Who is she?”

As he scrutinized the woman, Tom realized that he felt a tad uneasy as well. There was something about her that just seemed so… inhuman. Before Susanna could say anything to Henry, the woman cleared her throat to draw the attention back to herself. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you don’t know what’s going on. You’ve always been a bit too lost in your thoughts to pay much attention to the real world, big brother.”

Henry scowled, and put his hands on his hips. “Whoever you are, you don’t have any right to-”

Susanna was the one who cut him off. “I’m so sorry, Henry.” She bowed her head down and squeezed her eyes shut. “I never meant for things to end up this way.” She paused to take in several deep breaths before continuing. “I know that it’s wrong, and there are rules against it for a reason, but after Emilia died, when we were on leave from school so that we could attend the funeral and be with the rest of the family, I did something very stupid. I tried to bring her back.” Even Tom felt speechless at that declaration, and he could only imagine how Henry must feel about it. Susanna just barrelled on, apparently determined to get all of the words out before her nerves could fail her. “There was someone else in the same graveyard who had died very recently, and I had all the right pieces at the right time, so I decided to just improvise and I- of course it didn’t work out properly but she-” Susanna cut herself off and then reached up to press one hand over her mouth as she continued keeping her face pointed towards the ground.

Henry opened and closed his mouth a few times, and Tom couldn’t blame him for not even being sure of what kinds of questions he should be asking at a time like this. Finally, he turned to look at the woman. “So you’re really…?”

She nodded grimly. “In the flesh. Even if it’s not the flesh you remember.”

“But you don’t sound… I mean, you seem older. Like, a lot older.”

The woman- Emilia- shrugged. “We could sit around for years and try to figure out why I don’t talk and act like a nine year old, but I really don’t think that that would be a very productive use of our time.”

She stared at Henry challengingly, like she expected him to suddenly go nuts and start punching things. It made sense, in a way, since she hadn’t seen her brother in years, and when she had last seen him, she’d just been a little kid, so she might not really know what his temperament and personality were like. Instead, Henry took a few stumbling steps towards her, and then pulled her into a hug. “Oh Merlin, I thought you were dead forever. I thought I’d never see you again! Why didn’t you ever come to find me?” Then he pulled away to look over at Susanna. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that you’ve had our sister all this time?”

Susanna finally looked up, and she was the very picture of a guilty person. “I’m so-”

“Stop apologizing,” Emilia interrupted. Then she took a step back to look at Henry assessingly. “She hasn’t ‘had me’ all this time. Up until her imprisonment in Azkaban, we hadn’t seen each other at all since she brought me back. And it was by my choice, not because she shoved me aside for not being perfect.”

Henry seemed to deflate a bit at that, but he still looked over at Susanna. “Still, why did you never tell me?”

Susanna shrugged. “I already hated myself so much for what I’d done, and I didn’t think I could bear it to have your hatred as well. But I can’t fault you for hating me. It’s my fault Emilia died in the first place, and then I’m the one who used poor judgement to try and accomplish magic far beyond my skill, or even knowledge. I know that I should have just told you the truth, but Mom and Dad were so messed up after Emilia died, and you were all I had left, and I didn’t want to lose you. But that’s no excuse. I’m so sorry, Henry. You deserved to know the truth.”

“Even know you’re only telling me all this because I happened to encounter her. You never would have said a word to me about this if I didn’t come here and see her for myself, would you?”

Susanna shook her head, looking miserable. “No, probably not.” Then she furrowed her eyebrows, and finally looked up, though she blatantly avoided actually meeting Henry’s gaze. “What are you doing here, anyways? Does the school know that you two just wandered off on your own to an entirely different country?”

Tom snorted. “It’s not just us. Sirius came too.” He was glad that they’d moved on to a topic that he could actually keep up with. He stepped closer to reach out and gently take hold of one of Susanna’s hands. “We came here to find you. Henry found a personal advertisement in a newspaper that he insisted had been written by you, and I didn’t really believe him at first, but it turns out he was right, because you really are here right now.”

Henry frowned as he looked back and forth between Susanna and Emilia. “The thing that confused me most was trying to figure out who you were actually trying to address that would be able to understand all of the references in your notice. Now I understand though. You were trying to get Emilia to come here, weren’t you?”

Susanna nodded. “Yes. I didn’t think everyone who could possibly get the message would actually show up, though.” When Henry tilted his head and displayed the look he always wore when there was a puzzle he didn’t understand, Susanna sighed, and then elaborated. “Emilia wasn’t the first one who came to find me here. Mom came here first. She said that she doesn’t want to get involved in all of my drama. She’s in the hotel we stayed at during our vacation here, so if you want to stop by there and visit, I’m sure it would make her happy.”

Henry snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure every parent is just so happy to realize that their non-criminal child has resorted to skipping school, and wandering the world without a wand.”

“You didn’t-” Susanna cut herself off, and just sighed again. “Didn’t want to risk being caught because of the trace, huh?” She let of Tom’s hand to sink down to the ground, sitting and looking slightly dazed. “This is all so insane. The reason everyone’s here right now is because I just keep making mistake after mistake.”

Henry knelt down next to her. “Everyone makes mistakes. You’re just a kid. I wish you had talked to me, though. Maybe everything with Emilia was a spur of the moment decision, but it’s been years and you never said a single word about it. And our grandfather being- being who he is, how could you think that that wouldn’t be important for me to know about?”

Emilia tilted her head and adopted an expression eerily similar to Henry’s as she crouched down next to her siblings. “What do you mean?”

Henry sighed. “This is probably going to sound like something made up, but Merlin’s honest truth is that our grandfather on our mother’s side is Gellert Grindelwald himself.” 

Emilia looked disappointed. “Oh, I thought you were going to spit out some kind of juicy gossip about Grandfather Michael.”

“Wait- you knew?”

Emilia shrugged. “Not at first. Definitely not before Susanna did. She’s not the one who told me, though. I just looked for the guy because I thought that someone with his knowledge of dark magic would be able to help me out with my little problem. Turns out I was wrong, since he had absolutely no idea how to fix me. It’s just an accident that I also happened to figure out our relationship while I was there. He hates me, though, so I don’t think you have to worry about competing with multiple sisters for the spot of ‘favorite grandchild’.”

Tom felt rather left out of the conversation, but he also knew that it was long overdue, and that the three siblings really did deserve this opportunity to talk everything out. He also knew that he wasn’t going to just leave now and risk missing out on a single word. Partly because it was all so fascinating, and in many ways, served as proof that he was right about families not being worth all that much. But more importantly, he wanted to stay because it was something that was very important to Susanna, and he wanted to be as informed as possible about the things that mattered to her. So he just continued to stand there while the others chatted. Now he was glad he’d told Sirius to stay behind, though. He was pretty sure it would feel awkward for everyone to have the other Slytherin overhearing the conversation.

Henry looked confused. “Why would he hate you?”

Emilia clenched her jaw, so Susanna spoke, even though she sounded hesitant and unhappy to actually be saying the words. “He thinks of her as an abomination who is a threat to the world, and since he was the only one I knew I could talk to without judgement, I often shared my feelings about all of this with him, and he would tell me that I should do my best to stay away from her at all times because she is an unnatural monster and not a human.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Henry was brave enough to ask Emilia another question. “What problem were you trying to ask Grindelwald for help with?”

Emilia’s eyes flicked over to Susanna for just a second before she focused back on Henry. “He is right in some ways. My entire existence is unnatural, and is making a joke of how things are meant to be. I’m not very happy with it, either. I was hoping that he would be able to tell me how to undo this idiot’s spells. He told me that he couldn’t help because he wasn’t really sure how she did it, and then he said that even if he did know, he certainly wouldn’t try to actually help me with anything.”

“Wait- you want to undo the spell? Wouldn’t that mean that you’d-”

“Be dead?” Emilia finished the question with a wry voice. “That is the goal of reversing everything. Surely you can’t be as naive as our dear old sister, can you? This ‘life’ that I live is some parody of what a life is meant to look like. I don’t want this to be my life. I don’t want anything to be my life. I was supposed to be dead years ago, and the fact that I’m not dead right now doesn’t make it okay. It’s just- it sucks. I haven’t had a single happy moment since I opened my eyes in this hideous corpse of a body. The only reason that I actually followed Susanna’s request to show up here is because I was hoping that she would be able to tell me what she did to make me like this so that I would be able to use that information to figure out how to unmake myself. It seems simple enough to me, even if she doesn’t actually know the counters or anything like that. In fact, she was just in the process of writing everything down when you numbskulls showed up. Speaking of,” she looked sharply up at Tom, who was still standing, and was pretty close by to the group. “Who are you? I’ve never heard mention of anyone like you around before. And you said that there’s someone else here named ‘Sirius’, right? Who are you people? You must be pretty close to Henry for him to trust you to come with him to find his precious little sister.”

Tom shifted awkwardly on his feet. “Well, actually, Susanna is the one that I’m close with. I’m the one who demanded that Henry help me track her down. I’ve been worried sick about her since the moment that she was taken away to prison. No matter what confessions were made or acts were put on, I never stopped being worried.” He turned so that he was looking directly at Susanna, and waited a couple of seconds for her to look up and meet his eyes. “I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to protect you better from that sleazy professor, and from everything else going on in your life. I swear that I haven’t stopped thinking about you for even a moment since you were gone.”

She offered up a shy little smile. “I believe you, I promise that I do. I didn’t think that my leaving would affect you so much. You can’t deny the fact that we’ve really only been close to each other for a very short amount of time, all things considered. I didn’t think that you would continue to think about me. I thought that you would move on very easily, since you’re the guy who has an endless supply of friends and admirers back at school. I can’t believe that you’ve actually gone through so much trouble, and risked getting into so much trouble, just for me.”

Tom smiled, and reached down to offer Susanna one of his hands. She accepted, and let herself be pulled up and into a light hug. “You have to learn at some point or another that you are someone who is most definitely worth all of the trouble. I would do it all a million times over again just to see you for another couple of seconds. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me before, you know that? How did you never figure that out from how things were between us before you were taken away?”

Susanna shrugged, but there was clearly a pleased smile on her face. “I guess I never bothered to give it much thought.”

He leaned over to give her a quick kiss. “You focus too much on all the things that aren’t so great about you, and spend almost no time thinking about all the parts of you that are just amazing. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met before in my life, you’re so smart, and talented, and funny, and strong, and creative, and optimistic, and brave, and a million other things that I could spend the rest of my life telling you about and still not be even close to being done.”

Susanna gulped. “This is all very sappy to be coming from someone like you, Tom Riddle.”

Tom just grinned. “I’m okay with saying it a thousand times over, in front of a crowd of a thousand people if you wanted me too.”

Susanna laughed and shook her head. “Please don’t! Just saying it all to me is enough.” She sighed, sounding more content this time, and gave Tom’s hand a gentle squeeze. “You really are a lot different than who I thought you were when we first met. And believe me, I’m so grateful for that fact. You’re an amazing person, Tom. I really loved that picnic that we had together, and most of the other times that we’ve spent together too. I just want to have that back, you know?”

“Well I can’t make any promises that everything will just go back to the way they were. In fact, I can almost guarantee that they won’t, even if we do manage to somehow clear your name after that very authentic sounding confession of yours. But I can promise that I will do everything in my power to make you happy.” Susanna paused for a moment to glance back at her sister, and when Tom saw where she was looking, he gently took hold of her chin to direct her eyes back to him. “You do deserve to be happy, and I will make sure that you are.”

Susanna smiled. “I look forward to seeing what you can do, Mr. Riddle.” And for the first time in a while, Tom felt like things might actually be okay.


	44. Chapter 44

After a little while longer of letting the three siblings talk amongst themselves, Tom thought that it would be okay to bring Sirius into the mix. Mostly it was to make him feel better, so that he wouldn’t be the only person standing there awkwardly by himself. Though Sirius really pulled through by starting up an actual conversation with Tom, probably to help try and distract him from everything else that was going on. 

Once it started to get dark out, they all headed out to gather some suitable sticks, and then started a campfire near the well. It was lucky that Susanna had enough food for all of them, though Tom knew that this situation was not at all sustainable. But that was a problem for later. Right now, there were other things to be worrying about.

They finished eating, and then Emilia turned to look at her sister expectantly. “So are you going to finish writing down everything or what? I don’t know what you’d do in my situation, but I really want to get out of this cursed body sooner rather than later.”

Susanna and Henry both shared an uncomfortable look, but Tom already knew that Susanna was going to help. She was desperate to make up for her past mistakes, and Tom couldn’t blame her for that. He had plenty of his own past mistakes that he might want to make up for if he could. Though some of the people he’d hurt were ones he’d hurt again given half the chance, so he really wasn’t anywhere near to being as good a person as Susanna was.

Susanna pulled out the piece of parchment she’d been writing on when Henry had first stumbled over to her, and smoothed it out across her leg before kneeling down on the ground and putting the parchment on top of the small log. “I’ll just get right to it.”

Emilia nodded with satisfaction. “Good. I wouldn’t want to find out that you decided not to help me out after all because of whatever weird guilty complex you’ve got going on about everything with me.”

“The reason I’m helping you now is because of my ‘weird guilty complex’ so you should be happy that it exists. I swear, if I had known that it would lead to you living so miserably, I never would have done any of it.” Before Emilia could say anything in response to that, Susanna just focused intently on the paper. “Now everyone be quiet so that I can concentrate. It’s hard to remember everything that I did during an emotional low point that happened several years ago.”

Tom glared at everyone to try and enforce Susanna’s request for some quiet. He knew that this had to be hard for her, even if he didn’t understand what exactly she had done to resurrect her sister. He crossed his legs over each other, and thought about the possibilities. It was rare that he came across magical concepts that he didn’t understand, and he refused to let this be the thing that tripped him up.

A while later, Susanna finally sat up straight, and held the parchment out to Emilia. From where Tom was sitting, he could just make out the fact that the entire page was covered with small, cramped writing. Apparently whatever ritual Susanna had used, it had involved a lot of components to it. Then Emilia took the paper, scanned over it quickly, and folded it up to slid into her bag. Maybe Tom would ask Susanna about the whole thing later. Much, much, later, once they were all finished with this mess.

Emilia nodded. “Thanks. And I am sorry for acting like a hag towards you before. I knew you never had any bad intentions, since I knew you, but my own hurt and anger clouded the truth. But now I can use this information to find a way to fix things, and everything will go back to normal.”

“Not everything,” Henry pointed out in a quiet voice. “Susanna is still wanted for being an escaped criminal. Everyone thinks that she’s a murderer even though she’s not. And if she only did it out of a sense of guilt about what happened with you, then the fact that you two have talked things out and come to a sort of resolution should mean that she doesn’t feel the need to be locked up anymore, right?”

Susanna only hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Right. I’m so so sorry about what happened in the past, but I know now that what I did wasn’t the proper solution. All I did was allow an actual murderer to walk free.” Tom bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying anything. Of course Avery deserved to be thrown in Azkaban for killing Myrtle and Dippet, but what did that mean for Tom? He couldn’t truthfully deny that there was blood on his hands. He had killed his own father and grandparents, and framed his uncle for the crime. That had just been over the summer before this year, so there was no reason that he should be able to walk free after what he’d done, right? But that was his own problem to deal with, and he knew that it didn’t even rank on the list of priorities at the moment.

Henry stood up, and walked over to be closer to Susanna and Emilia. He kept giving Emilia strange looks, and Tom wondered what the poor guy was thinking about in regards to his youngest sister. “So what are we going to do to clear Susanna’s name, and to try and avoid getting Tom, Sirius, and me expelled for running off like we did, and to make sure that Avery is the one to wind up in jail, and maybe even Fredwin too, since he’s partially responsible for all the bad stuff against Susanna.”

Emilia groaned, and leaned her head back all the way so that she was staring straight up at the sky instead of at any of the teenagers. “Ugh, fine, I get it, I get it. I’ll hold off on figuring out how to reverse this damn spell long enough to help with your Susanna problem, but as soon as that’s dealt with, I’m going to be out of here.”

Tom couldn’t help feeling surprised by Emilia suddenly volunteering to help them. He wondered if the siblings had all somehow exchanged a conversation that he was completely unaware of, since he couldn’t recall anyone actually asking for Emilia’s help. And on that note, he couldn’t even see how much help she’d truly be able to provide, considering the fact that she was only nine. Just a kid not even old enough to get her Hogwarts letter yet even if she hadn’t been killed.

Susanna leaned over to pull her sister into a hug. “You’re the best, and I don’t know what I ever did to deserve a sister like you. I’m so sorry for all the things that Grandfather said to you. I swear that I’m going to talk to him as soon as I get the chance so that I can clear the air and make sure that he understands that you aren’t some evil monster.”

Sirius arched one eyebrow. “You’re really just going to assume that she’s not evil because she said so? You haven’t even seen her in years, which leaves plenty of time for her to wander around and commit sins to her heart’s content.” He didn’t sound angry or accusatory, more like he was just stating facts.

Tom rolled his eyes at his friend’s bluntness, but knew that there was nothing he could do to take back what had just been said, so he stayed silent. And he couldn’t help agreeing with Sirius just a bit. No one knew about the evil things that he’d done, and they just assumed that he was fine because he said so, which meant that it would be all too easy for Emilia to do the same thing. 

“He’s got a point, you know,” Emilia was the one to point out, much to Tom’s surprise. “I could be up to anything right now.”

Somehow, the tone of voice she used didn’t make it sound like she was being serious, though. It sounded almost like she was referencing some kind of inside joke. Susanna’s face flushed a light pink, and she bowed her head down. “I already said that I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Can we please just forget about that and move on?”

Emilia snorted. “Sure thing.” Then she put her hands on her hips, and slowly looked around their small group. Even though she was technically the youngest one there, she did look like the oldest, and she didn’t talk or act like a young child either, which only added to her intimidation factor. Finally, she shrugged, and let her hands drop down. “So what exactly is the plan here? We probably won’t be able to clear Susanna with anything short of a direct, uncoerced, confession from the real killer.” Then she plopped back down next to her sister.

“Avery,” Susanna practically growled out. “If it were up to me, I’d say we should go back and beat him up and let me go to jail for a crime that I actually did commit.”

Tom laughed. “Just talk to him in that voice, and I’m sure you’ll have scared him enough to have gotten the same effect.”

“And if it makes you feel any better, your friend seemed to be doing a pretty good job of pissing off Avery last I heard,” Sirius offered.

Susanna nodded. “That does make me feel better.” She let out a wistful sigh. “I can’t wait to go back to Hogwarts and see Myrtle again. I really miss her.”

Tom walked over to sit down closely next to Susanna. “Too bad her death was entirely in vain. She didn’t even see Avery’s face, so we can’t use her a witness even if the Ministry were willing to hear out the testimony of a ghost.”

Emilia leaned forward so that she could peer around Susanna to look at Tom with one eyebrow raised. “What difference does it make whether this dame actually saw the killer or not? This whole mess was started by a pack of lies, so why can’t it be finished by another one? I’m sure no one would be that mad about having someone tell a little lie if it means getting the actual murderer punished for their crimes.”

Susanna sighed, and leaned back so that she was propped up against the log. “None of any of that will matter, though. All anyone is going to remember is me acting like a maniac while confessing to the murders, and blatantly throwing around my relationship with Grindelwald of all people. Reputation is important, and nobody is going to forget about any of that. It was probably the most interesting trial they witnessed in years.”

Everyone was silent for a few minutes after that so that they could think. Then Henry cleared his throat. “Well, if we’re going to go down the path of falsehoods anyways, which definitely seems like a very bad idea to me, then we may as well say that you were under the influence of the Imperius curse. Say that it was Avery who did it to increase the chances of you taking the fall for his crimes. Though it would probably just be our word against his, and everyone here would definitely be argued to be biased in your favor.”  
“I can steal his wand for a few minutes and cast a few crucios with it to increase the believability of him being capable of casting unforgivables,” Tom suggested. At the look of shock on Henry and Susanna’s faces, he just shrugged. “Not on another person, I promise. Just towards the wall or something.”

Emilia gave Tom a doubtful look. “Aren’t the basis of the unforgivables all about intent? Is there really any way for you to trick the universe into believing that you fully intend on torturing a wall?”

He gave her an annoyed look in return, not wanting to air his entire collection of dirty laundry right in front of Susanna. Of course she was already aware that he wasn’t a great person now, and had been even worse before they’d met, but he also knew that for some reason, she continued to like him, and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. “On some insects, then. Not the greatest solution, but it’s possible. Provided that someone could distract Avery long enough for me to use his wand without him noticing.” 

Susanna’s eyes widened for a moment. “Or we just need someone to distract him long enough for someone else to make a clone of his wand. Put the clone back into his pocket or bag, or whatever, so that even if he does feel the need to pull it out, he won’t notice it’s missing, do what you need to with his real wand, and then distract him again for just long enough to swap the wands back.”

“Wait, so you’re not totally opposed to the idea of me using an unforgivable curse?”

Susanna sighed, and her shoulders slumped down. “I’m not going to lie, I’m not fond of the idea. But I’ve done unforgivable things with magic before too. People in glass houses, and all that. But I do hope that maybe, once all of this is over, both of us can start fresh and only use magic for, well, not good necessarily, but not for evil.”

Tom nodded. “That sounds like something that’s easy enough to agree to.” He could practically feel the burn of Sirius’ eyes on him, but decided to ignore it. He’d already told Sirius that he wanted to go clean from now on, and Sirius had agreed and even volunteered to do it with him, so he couldn’t see any reason for his best friend to be concerned at the moment. 

Once the others had fallen asleep, Tom made his way over to Sirius to find out what was up. He nodded away from the camp, and Sirius got up to follow him far enough away that they wouldn’t wake anyone else up. “Hey, you seemed a bit off earlier. What’s going on?” He still whispered just to be on the safe side.

Sirius sighed. “I’m not going to lie to you; I don’t like this plan. I think it’s flimsy, and leaves a lot that could wrong, and still doesn’t even begin to help us with the part where we somehow actually get Avery to confess. And it would have to be in front of an audience of some sort. And,” he hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Dark magic isn’t like candy. If you use it for long enough, it’s not going to be easy to just stop. I’m worried that if you use it for the sake of this plan, you’re going to get addicted to that feeling of power again, and then all of your promises and hard work and good intentions will be down the sewers.”

Tom hadn’t even considered that aspect of things, but he was glad that that was the extent of Sirius’ concerns. He clapped his friend on the back, and offered a charming grin. “Don’t worry about the plan, I’m sure that the rest of it will come together before we actually make a move to put anything into play. And as for the other thing- it’s not even close to being a problem. I’m a strong willed, powerful guy, and I can handle just about anything, including a little bit of dark magic. Everything is going to work out just fine, I promise.”

Sirius still didn’t look very confident. “I don’t know, Tom. I just think that it’s too risky. And I happen to agree with what Henry said earlier. He said that it’s a bad idea to try and use lies to get out of a situation built on lies. I understand the part about getting Avery to confess, since that’s essential, and wouldn’t involve lies since he is the one responsible in the first place. But planting evidence is not going to end well. If they figure out that it’s planted, suddenly they won’t have reason to believe a single thing we say. It might be harder without that, but I think it’s best to just focus on how we get Avery to spill in front of a live crowd. Everything else would just be useless details.”

Tom blinked a few times as he thought it over, and then let out a soft sigh. “I see what you mean. Alright, since it’s Susanna’s future on the line, she gets the final say. But if she wants to go through with all of this, then we will,” he warned.

Sirius gave Tom a relieved smile. “I’m glad that you can see reason. And I don’t think Susanna will be a problem. She may not have objected to any of the aspects of the plan, but she wasn’t the one suggesting anything. That was all you and Henry. She’s a smart girl, and I’m sure she’ll understand why it would be in all of our best interest to just tell the truth.”

Tom couldn’t even begin to imagine how strange it would be for Susanna to have to go in front of the Ministry and tell them the truth of everything. That she’d given that whole theatrical confession because she wanted to be locked away as a punishment for something she’d done years ago. And then when they asked what could have possibly been so bad, she’d have to tell them about Emilia. They might decide to put her back in prison just for that, though hopefully they would be lenient because she’d just been a child, and she hadn’t done anything to intentionally harm another person. It definitely wouldn’t be easy, but if she really wanted to go with the honesty route, Tom wasn’t going to do anything to stop her from it.

He and Sirius spent a few more minutes just standing around in the dark, not saying anything to each other. It was a friendly silence, though, and Tom regretted the fact that he’d never tried sooner to really connect with Sirius, because he was actually a pretty good friend. 

Then the two boys returned to the well, and Tom had the eerie feeling that there was something watching him. He looked around, and then spotted Emilia. She was lying on the ground, sandwiched between her brother and sister, but she was looking over at Tom with eyes that seemed to practically glow in the dark. She didn’t look at all tired, but also didn’t look like she wanted to escape from her siblings. She just stared at Tom, and it seemed to be a judgemental look, though it was hard to tell for sure in the dark. 

A shiver ran down Tom’s spine, and he made his way over to where Sirius had laid himself out to sleep. He would have slept right next to Susanna for the comfort of knowing she was nearby and safe, but even he knew that that would be inappropriate. And he couldn’t help feeling like Emilia wanted to look out for her siblings, despite all of the hurt between them. Tom didn’t want to risk getting hurt by a little-ish kid when he would easily be able to see Susanna just by sitting upright, and would be able to talk to her again in the morning.


	45. Chapter 45

Tom could see exactly how jittery Susanna was as they got closer and closer to Hogwarts. It was completely understandable for her to be nervous, all things considered. She’d decided that Sirius was right about lying being the wrong idea which meant that they had no plan, and Susanna had traumatic memories from her time here, of which Sirius had actually played a part, and it was where she’d lost her best friend. 

He was so proud of her for being strong enough to follow through with all of this anyways, though. He glanced over at Henry for a moment. He was proud of the male Ravenclaw as well. He could have taken the opportunity to go visit the Matheus mother and forgiven her for giving up on Susanna, but instead he’d decided to join his siblings in blowing her off. Tom wondered if the woman was still in France, waiting for her children to show up, or if she’d taken the hint and returned home in defeat.

Then Tom reached over to take one of Susanna’s hands. “So what do you want to do here? I think we can all agree that it’s completely up to you.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “I’ve had a few days to think, and I still feel like I haven’t come up with a single decent idea. Well, there is one thing…” she hesitated for a moment before continuing. “For whatever reason, we all know that Avery hates me. Otherwise he wouldn’t have targeted me personally so many times. So maybe it’s possible that I can bait him into a confession?” 

Tom immediately shook his head. “That’s a really bad idea. You’ll just be putting yourself into a position where you could get hurt by him.”

He didn’t understand why that made Susanna look more amused than anything. She let go of Tom’s hand and pulled out her wand to wave through the air. “Of the five of us, I’m the only one who’s even armed. While I completely understand why you’d choose to leave your wands behind as a form of protection, it was also really dumb to leave your means of protection behind. I’ll be fine, Tom. I’m perfectly capable of defending myself in the magical sense.”

It still seemed like a bad idea. Unfortunately, Emilia was the one to voice Tom’s next thought out loud. “Well, it’s not the most solid thing I’ve ever heard, but it is the only thing I’ve heard so far, besides the whole ‘lying and framing him’ bit. And I know that Emilia is strong enough to defend herself against Avery if she had to.”

“Though it might actually be more beneficial if she didn’t,” Sirius mused. “Just imagine what the crowd would have to think if they saw him snap and start attacking a poor, defenceless muggle-born. There’d be no way for him to be able to redeem himself at that point.”

There was a growing sense of horror rushing through Tom, and he wondered how the hell none of these idiots seemed to realize how dangerous their suggestions were. “No way! Susanna could get seriously hurt even if she was willing to fight back, let alone if she isn’t!”

Susanna held the wand out to Henry, who easily took it from her. Then she put her hands on her hips as she turned to look Tom in the eyes. “Just so you’re aware, you have absolutely no say over anything that I do. Ever. I’m willing to listen to your ideas and suggestions, but I don’t have to just do whatever you say. If it means that Avery will get what he deserves, then I’m willing to suffer a little bit. It’s not like I haven’t already suffered so much. Would you want all of that to be entirely in vain?”

Tom sighed. “No, obviously not. I know that you’re capable of taking care of yourself and making your own decisions. But I can’t help feeling worried about you. And feeling scared whenever I imagine bad things happen to you. It’s like you said- you’ve already suffered so much. I don’t want you to have to go through any more. You deserve a happy and pain-free life, Susanna.”

She smiled, and reached up to gently hold the side of his face. “Oh Tom, there’s no such thing as a pain-free life. And I don’t think that it would be a good thing if there was.” Her smile grew larger, and she dropped her hand down to hold Tom’s again. “Do you even realize how much you’ve changed since we first met? Back then, it would have been so easy to believe you incapable of caring for anyone other than yourself. And now here you are, trying to order me around because you get so frightened by the thought of me being hurt.”

It was true that Tom had come a long way since they’d first met. He shuddered to think of himself gathering up the gang and telling them fantastic stories of all the power they’d have someday, and of the way he would test out all kinds of torturous spells on his own supposed friends without breaking a sweat.

“It’s all your fault,” he grumbled, but he clearly wasn’t actually upset. “How dare you force me to become a better person.”

Henry reached over to poke Tom in the back with the wand. “Great sentimental moment, and all that, but I really think that we have more important things to deal with at the moment than your sappy little love confessions.”

Susanna’s face flushed a light pink, and she stepped away from Tom. She cleared her throat a few times. “Alright. So we get into the school. Emilia and I will have to find a way to sneak in, but the rest of you can just walk back in through the front doors. You’d have to face the music for running off either way, and it’ll be best if you return freely, and without me in tow. Hopefully they’ll all buy the fact that I coincidentally returned around the same time as you. You’ll all definitely get in trouble, but at least you’ll be able to get your wands back, which is very good for us. And Avery will probably let his guard down, because all three of you are going to act like kicked puppies who had absolutely no luck with finding me. Then I’ll confront Avery in the Great Hall during a meal, and get him to admit to his wrong doings.”

“How exactly do you plan to go about that? Hogwarts is supposed to be impregnable. And Avery is a tough nut to crack.” Sirius looked very concerned by his own question.

Emilia rolled her eyes and responded for her sister. “Don’t be so thick. We’ll have men on the inside. A week should be enough time for everything to settle down in the wake of your return. So in a week, at least one of you needs to come and open the front doors at midnight to let us in. And then we’ll figure out the rest from there.”

Henry frowned. “And what are the two of you going to do for an entire week? Just camp out in the wilderness?”

Susanna shrugged. “Can’t be worse than sleeping in Azkaban.”

“Besides,” Emilia drawled out. “It’ll give me an excellent opportunity for some bonding time with my lovely sister here. We’ll be fine out here.” She plucked the wand out of Henry’s hand. “And it’s not like we’ll be entirely helpless. As long as Susanna doesn’t have any wands on her during the actual confrontation, we’ll be fine, which means it’s perfectly okay to use one for now.”

Susanna nodded. “I think we can really do this, guys. Avery needs to be punished for everything that he’s done, and it’s time for everyone to return to school.”

Emilia laughed. “And don’t forget about the most important part, which is that the sooner this is all dealt with, the sooner I can figure out my own problems without feeling like a dick for doing so.”

Tom really didn’t like the idea of just leaving Susanna out in the woods, alone with her creepy zombie sister, but he knew that he really didn’t have the right to tell her that she couldn’t do that. Though it did only make him feel even worse to think about what she’d actually be doing once she was inside Hogwarts. 

He pulled Susanna a little bit away from the rest of the group, and gave her a serious look. “I hate the idea of anything bad happening to you. Especially when so much bad stuff already has, and you didn’t deserve any of it, no matter what you might think.” He reached out to brush a lock of Susanna’s hair behind her ear. “I’m going to be worried about you the entire time that I have to wait to see you again.”

She smiled. “I know. I’ll miss you too.” Then there was a look of determination in her eyes, and she stood on the tips of her toes so that she could press a light kiss to Tom’s mouth. She settled back down flat on her feet, a bashful look on her face. “I’m sorry. I know that I should have asked first, but I just- I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now. I hope you don’t think badly of me for it.”

Tom surged forward to give Susanna a passionate kiss, and then he pulled away with a dopey little grin. “Are you kidding me? How could I possibly think badly of you for wanting the same thing that I do?”

“I regret not doing this at the end of our only date. But it kind of feels like we’ve been together all this time, doesn’t it?”

He nodded. “Yeah, weirdly, it does. I really like you, Susanna. And once all of this is over, I hope that you’ll give me the chance to take you on another date. One that’s official and everything.”

Susanna shrugged. “Sure. I doubt you could think up any date that could possibly end worse than the last one did. Believe me, going from one of the best times of your life to finding your best friend had been murdered in the same day isn’t exactly fun times. And then to be arrested for said murder on top of that! So you’ve got a pretty low bar to hop over, Tom. Don’t disappoint.”

“Cross my heart, I won’t. I’ll make sure that it’s absolutely perfect.” He snuck one last, brief, kiss, and then led Susanna back over to the other three. “Alright, so we’ve got a vague idea with enough semblance of a plan to actually go through with this. I’m sure we’ll all survive without too much harm done.”

Emilia and Susanna waved goodbye as the boys started walking closer to the school. Sirius waggled his eyebrows as he looked at Tom. “So you and Susanna are official now, huh?”

Before Tom could even protest the idea of Sirius either listening in on a private conversation, or worse, somehow having gained the ability to read minds, Henry let out a loud squeak. “You’re what?”

Tom shot Sirius a death glare before laughing awkwardly, and reaching up to rub at the back of his head. “Hey, at least it’s better than what you assumed my intentions were when we first met, right?”

Henry sighed. “I’m not even going to try to pretend like I have any power over who Susanna wants to court. But seriously, why does it have to be you of all people?”

Sirius snorted. “Don’t act like you didn’t expect this outcome for a while. Do you really think that anyone would go through so much trouble for a girl they didn’t want?”

“People are allowed to be friends,” Henry sniffed. “But yeah, I guess I found it a bit odd that you kept going after Susanna like that. You know she told me about all of your encounters, right?”

“All of them?”

Sirius snorted. “Both of you are ridiculous. You’re both allowed to love the girl; it’s not that big a deal. Now shut up. We’ll have plenty of time in detention to talk about all of this in more detail. Come on.”

The three boys walked right up to the front doors of Hogwarts, and Tom checked to see if the doors would be conveniently unlocked. They weren’t, so all three of them knocked loudly, hoping that it would catch at least someone’s attention. It felt like they waited outside for hours before the doors finally creaked open, revealing Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn.

Slughorn began making a big fuss as he practically dragged the boys inside the castle, talking about how worried he was for them and that he hoped they were alright, and that they wouldn’t fall too far behind in their classes. As they walked, Dumbledore remained perfectly quiet, and it was nearly impossible to figure out what he was thinking just by looking at his face.

Eventually they all reached the headmaster’s office, and Dumbledore gave Slughorn a pointed look. “Please leave us, Horace. You wouldn’t want the students at your little gathering to get concerned of your whereabouts.”

Slughorn nodded. “Yes, you’re right. I’ll just- I’ll just be on my way. Mr. Riddle, Mr. Lestrange, Mr. Matheus- I’m glad to see that you’re all well.” Then he nodded again before hurrying out of the room. 

Dumbledore summoned a third chair for the other side of his desk, and then motioned for the boys to sit down. They obliged, and Tom tried not to show how nervous he was. Though oddly enough, it wasn’t the idea of punishment that bothered him. His reputation had always been one of the most important things to him, right below his power. But now, while he still cared about being a prefect and the good appearance and slight power it gave him, Tom was much more nervous about Susanna’s fate. It was strange to be more worried for another person than for himself. 

Dumbledore cleared his throat. “I’m sure you have already figured out that you will be facing consequences for your actions. Two of you are at the tops of your classes, and are often cited by professors and peers as being very bright students.”

Sirius let out a snort. “Guessing I’m the odd man out, then?” 

The headmaster just blinked once, and then continued talking. He really did enjoy the sound of his own voice, didn’t he? “Of course we had to report your disappearance to the Ministry. There has been a vast amount of wasted resources on people trying to look for you, who simply wanted to ensure your wellbeing. Two of your wands were recovered, which made it appear as though you had not left of your own free will, though many of us suspected that you had tossed them to avoid the trace being used to find you.” He narrowed his eyes, and the twinkly charm that was usually there was entirely absent. “So why don’t you tell me about your little adventure?”

Of the three of them, Henry looked the most nervous, but then he sat up straighter in his seat, and a steely look came over his face. “It’s amazing that the Ministry could find it within themselves to be worried about us, but not about Susanna.”

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, and reached up to grab at his beard. “So this was about your sister, then? The timing of it all is strange. She broke out of Azkaban before you left the school, which means that this was either all planned out in advance, or you intended to go on a wild goose hunt.”

Tom cleared his throat. “We were worried about her. It’s a dangerous world out there. No one else was trying to help her, so we had to. We had to at least try.”

“But we didn’t find her,” Sirius smoothly interjected. “We didn’t even know where to begin. When we ran out of money for food, we thought that it was time to return to school.”

The look on Dumbledore’s face was one of blatant suspicion. “I see,” he said slowly. “So then you were comfortable with the idea of leaving her to the wolves, so the speak?”

Henry scowled. “Of course not! But what else could we do? My sister’s too smart to be found if she doesn’t want to be, and we could search the entire world and not find her. This is your fault, anyways. You should be the one held responsible if anything happens to her.”

Dumbledore arched one eyebrow, and the bastard had the audacity to look almost amused. He must’ve been happy to be back on the comfortable grounds of where he was the only one speaking in his stupid puzzle-filled language. “Oh? You may blame me if it makes you feel better, but I did not force Susanna to make her confession in the courtroom, and I did not break her out of prison. She made all of those choices for herself. The only one to blame is your sister. I know that it must be difficult to hear-”

Henry slouched down. “Whatever,” he muttered. “Just tell us what our punishment is.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Dumbledore held out two wands. “First, these should be returned to their rightful owners.” Sirius and Tom took their wands, and a wave of relief rushed over Tom as soon as it was back in his hand. “For now, I will assign two months of detention to each of you, with different professors so that you can not use it as time to ‘hang out’. And I will need to discuss with the Ministry if they wish for further action to be taken.”

“To make an example of us, you mean?”

Dumbledore’s shoulders rose up in a very small shrug that was almost not noticeable. “Your detentions will start tomorrow night. You will resume your classes tomorrow morning, and you will each be responsible for making up the missing class time and assignments. For now, you should head to bed. A good night of sleep is the best preparation for a hard day ahead of you.”

They all trooped out of Dumbledore’s office, and then split to head to their dorms. “See you guys around,” Henry said softly. “Let’s all try to avoid getting into any trouble if we can. And it’s probably best if we don’t try to spend too much time together. I’ll see you in a week, at midnight, okay?” Then he hurried off towards the Ravenclaw dorm. 

As Tom and Sirius headed to the dungeons, Tom couldn’t help wondering why Avery hadn’t gone whining to Dumbledore about Tom attacking him. He would have had plenty of time to paint himself as the victim without Tom being around to defend himself. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing Avery again either way, though. He took a deep breath before entering the Slytherin common room. Time to figure out just how bad things were for him at the moment.


	46. Chapter 46

“-and then they attacked me. I was pretty out of it, but I guess Tom was the one who found me, and it’s a good thing he did, or I would have probably bled out. Unfortunately, the healing spell he used only made this permanent.” She raised her shirt to show off her ‘mudblood’ scar. “He came to visit me in the infirmary the next day, and he seemed decent enough, especially for a Slytherin. Anyways, that’s how we first met.”

Emilia narrowed her eyes. “And this is the guy you like? The one who was the leader of that boy band that attacked you? The one who made sure you’d never be able to forget that attack? The one who-”

Susanna reached out to put her hand on Emilia’s shoulder, gently getting her sister to slow down for a moment, and offered a small smile. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t his biggest fan at first. Thought he was a blood purist like so many of his friends. And maybe he was, but he’s not like that now. There’s so much more to him. He’s sweet, and charming, and funny, and clever, and beautiful. And do you really think that any other boy would’ve run away from school and gone to a different country just to find me and make sure that I was okay?”

Emilia sighed. “Sounds like you’ve got it bad. But I suppose that if he’s really the one who makes you happy, then it isn’t my place to try and stop you from being with him.” She came to a sudden halt. “Alright, we’re here, and it’s five to midnight. Let’s see just how reliable those boys are, shall we?”

At exactly twelve, the gate swung open, revealing Henry. He beckoned the girls in, and they hurried forward. The three of them walked up to the castle, and went around to one of the small side doors. Before they actually walked inside, Henry gave both of them long hugs. “I’m so glad that you’re both okay.”

“Did you doubt us?” Emilia asked in an amused voice.

Henry quickly shook his head. “Of course not! But as your older brother, it’s kind of my job to be worried about you when stuff happens. Alright, I have to go back to the dorm now before anyone notices that I’m missing. Do you two know where you’re going to hide out?”

Susanna grinned. “Of course. Now we’ll see you around, alright? And if you happen to see Tom, please tell him that I miss him.”

Henry nodded. “Sure. Of course I’ll probably feel like vomiting the entire time that I have to say such a thing, but I’ll tell him. Be safe, okay?” Then he stepped inside, holding the door open for his sisters. They slipped in, and then Henry quietly hurried away.

Once he was gone, Emilia turned to look at Susanna with one eyebrow raised. “So where are we going to hide, anyways? This is my first time stepping foot in this school, so it’s not like I’m an expert on the layout of it, or anything.”

Susanna reached out to take one of Emilia’s hands, and then began leading her through all of the least used corridors. “Don’t worry, I know where we can go.” They went up to the seventh floor without being caught by any ghosts or professors, and then she paced back and forth a few times while thinking of the kind of room they needed. The door appeared a moment later, and Susanna pulled her sister inside.

It was a simple room with two beds, and a small table with several dishes of food on it. Susanna flopped down onto one of the beds, and reached up to rest her head on her hands. Emilia picked at some of the food before laying down on the other bed. “I know we’re in hiding, but can we take actual showers tomorrow instead of using yet another cleaning charm?”

Susanna nodded. “Sure. And we won’t even have to leave this room. It always knows what the people inside need from it, and is constantly changing to accommodate everyone inside. Pretty cool, huh?”

Emilia shrugged, and it seemed like she was doing her best to not look at all impressed. “I suppose it is rather interesting. Brings up a lot of questions. Like what if the people in the room needed something different? Or a new person wants to enter the room with a different need than the people already in it? And do a lot of people know about this room?”

Susanna shook her head. “It’s kind of a school secret. And if anyone else wanted to get in they wouldn’t be able to, since what we need is a place to stay hidden. So don’t worry, we’re completely safe in here. And no one would even think to be looking for us in the first place. Firstly because no one even knows that you exist, and secondly because there’s no reason for anyone to believe that I would be in Hogwarts of all places. They probably all think that I ran as far away from here as possible as soon as I got the chance.”

Emilia sighed, then got up and began peeling off her dirty clothes. The trunk at the foot of her bed had a fresh set of pajamas in it that fit her perfectly as she pulled them on. “So how are you planning on provoking Avery to the point he’d attack you before any of the professors grab you and haul you back to jail?”

Susanna hadn’t really considered how she’d deal with the professors. She was pretty sure that Avery would be the easier obstacle in this situation. “Well, you decided to stay to help me out, right? So maybe you could distract the professors with the wand?” She held it out in the space between the two beds, and Emilia quickly plucked it out of Susanna’s hand. “Alright, I’ll think of something. I’m sure I’ll be able to prove myself to be the more reliable sibling.”

“Thanks. Now we should both get some sleep in these comfy beds to take advantage of it while we can. It feels like sleeping on a cloud in comparison to the ground outside.”

Emilia snorted. “Pretty sure clouds would feel very wet and cold. Are you trying to say that Hogwarts beds feel wet and cold? Because that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.”

Susanna grabbed one of her pillows and tossed it over to smack Emilia in the stomach. “Yeah, yeah, you knew what I meant,” she grumbled. “Now leave me alone so that I can get my beauty rest.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Emilia spoke again. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m pretty sure that there’s no amount of sleep you could get that would make you beautiful.” Then she threw the pillow back towards Susanna.

Susanna grabbed both of her pillows and leapt out of bed. “Alright, that’s it. Let’s do this!” Emilia jumped up, holding both of her pillows as well, and the two began to smack each other with their pillows, laughing when they got their hits in, and then laughing harder when the pillows burst open and feathers rained down everywhere. 

Emilia bent over to scoop up some feathers to try throwing at Susanna. “What kind of cheap magic school is this where they don’t even provide indestructible pillows?”

“I never realized their lack of durability before, since I’ve had so few opportunities to engage in pillow fights,” Susanna said with a snort. Then she collapsed back down onto her bed, noticing that there were two fresh pillows in place at the head of it. Emilia dropped down next to her on the same bed. “I really- I really missed this,” she said softly. “I don’t know if you remember, but we used to be so close. Dad used to joke about how he regretted having another girl because it meant that we could gang up on him easier.”

Emilia sighed. “I think I remember that, but it’s pretty fuzzy. Most of my life at home is pretty fuzzy. Probably from a combination of me dying young, and whatever side effects of the ritual you used on me.”

They were both quiet for a minute before Susanna spoke again. “Maybe you aren’t the exact same person that I remember growing up with, but I know without a doubt that I will miss you dearly once you are gone.”

“Well, try to figure out a better way to cope with your grief this time, okay? One that doesn’t involve me personally being dredged up from the dead.”

Susanna nodded. “I will, I promise.” She rolled over to pull her sister into a hug. “I’m sorry for everything that I put you through, but I can’t help feeling unbearably grateful to have you here with me right now.”

Emilia shrugged. “What can I say? I tend to have that effect on people.” Then she pried herself free from Susanna, and went back over to her own bed. “Goodnight, Susanna.”

“Goodnight.” The candles in the room went out a moment later, leaving them in a peaceful darkness. Susanna closed her eyes and fell asleep with a sad smile on her face.

,,,

As Tom headed towards the Great Hall for dinner, he spotted Henry for the first time all day, and rushed over to the other boy, not caring who he shoved past. “Henry,” he hissed. “I couldn’t leave the dorm last night because Avery’s taken it upon himself to make my life a living hell. Please tell me-”

“I let them in,” Henry said in a quiet voice. “And they both seemed to be perfectly okay. I’m not sure where exactly they are within the school, but I trust them to be able to take care of themselves.”

Tom nodded once. “Yeah, they’re strong. Thank you, Henry.” Then he turned back in the direction of the Great Hall to file in with everyone else. He headed over to the Slytherin table, and sat down with Sirius. It didn’t take long for Avery to decide to sit on his other side, and Tom narrowed his eyes. “Is there something I can help you with, Jon?”

Avery scowled for a second before rearranging his face to look smug. “I was just curious about how your little field trip went. Me and some of the other guys were taking bets about whether it was more likely that you’d find your tramp, or come home empty handed.”

Tom clenched his jaw. “Not that it’s any of your business-”

Sirius reached over to grab Tom’s arm. “He’s not worth it.”

Tom narrowed his eyes, but nodded once as he tugged his arm free, and then turned his attention to the food that was in front of him. He ate angrily, tearing into his food almost savagely, and tried his best to ignore Avery talking and laughing with his friends. The people who had been Tom’s friends first. Well, not friends exactly. He’d scared them into following him, and then offered them power in exchange for their loyalty. But he could no longer provide the power or fear required to keep them in line, so it made sense that they’d lose interest in him. He was just grateful that they were still unaware of his blood status, or else he’d really be in trouble.

A few minutes into the meal, the doors to the hall swung open slowly, and Tom looked up, along with everyone else in the room, as Susanna strolled casually inside, as if she had every right in the world to be there. Tom knew that she had no wand on her, and wasn’t going to be able to do much of anything without it, but he couldn’t help thinking that in that moment, she looked very powerful. 

Susanna glanced around the room for just a few seconds before walking confidently towards the Slytherin table. Tom couldn’t help wondering why none of the professors were doing anything to stop her from proceeding. Not that he wanted them to, of course, but he was worried that they would interfere and put Susanna right back into Azkaban. There was no way that she would be able to break free of that place for a second time. He looked over towards the staff table, and saw that all of the professors were eating and talking like nothing was amiss. 

Then he turned all of his focus back to Susanna, who came to an abrupt stop right behind Avery. She frowned, and then reached over to tap him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her, and his face ran through a whole range of emotions before he seemed to settle on anger. “How the hell did you get in here?”

Susanna shrugged. “You know what they say. Hogwarts knows who is worthy of walking the halls and who isn’t. I was able to walk right in because this school knows that I am no threat to anyone else inside of it. The only threat around here is you. You murdered the former headmaster, and you murdered my best friend.” 

The other students around them were mostly silent, listening eagerly to the conversation. If Susanna really was an evil murderer, then they’d probably be dead by now, because apparently they were all idiots with no self-preservation instincts. And their silence was unnecessary, because it was so obvious that Susanna was intentionally speaking for an audience. But those students were all morons, and there was nothing Tom could do to change that about them. 

Avery just scoffed at Susanna’s claims. “As if anyone would believe you. We’ve all read the transcripts of your trial. You confessed to the whole world that you’re the killer.”

Susanna clenched her jaw. “I had to. You threatened to frame Tom Riddle for your crimes if I did not go along with your story.”

“And why the hell would you care about Tom Riddle?”

Susanna shrugged. “A few reasons. The main one probably being that we’re together romantically. Not that you’d understand what that means, since a psycho like you can’t possibly be capable of love. Not that I’m saying we’re in love, but we’ve got a lot more potential to get there than you do.”

Avery shook his head. “You’re the psycho one. You think you can proudly tell everyone about what an evil bitch you are and then just be able to go and take it all back and put the blame on someone else instead? Especially now that everyone knows just who you’re related to. Monsters must run in families.”

“Maybe. I’d have to meet your mother first to be sure.”

Avery clenched his jaw and finally stood up, turning to face Susanna. They were about the same height, but somehow Susanna managed to give off the impression that she was towering over the boy. Tom had to swallow back some comment or another that would be inappropriate for this situation. “Alright, that’s enough. Time for you to go back to jail where I belong.”

“I’m not the one who belongs there,” Susanna said loudly. Tom glanced away and saw that the professors still weren’t paying any attention. Clearly there had been some kind of magic used on them. It would have to be pretty powerful to be able to pull one over on all of the supposed masters of their subjects. He had faith in Susanna’s abilities, though. And there was no telling just what Emilia would be capable of. 

Avery clenched his hands into fists. “What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?”

“Justice,” Susanna said in a clear voice. “Justice for Myrtle, and for Dippet, and for me.” She lifted up her shirt to show off her scar to everyone. “You did this to me. Because you believe that you’re somehow better than me. But you’re not better than me. You’re not better than anyone in this room. You’ve done a lot more to deserve being locked away than I ever could. You are a menace, and you are evil, and you have no intention or ability to ever change your ways. You’re never going to become a better person because you don’t want to be a better person. You just want to sit up on your alter and grow worse and worse, killing more and more people, causing pain and misery to everyone who you encounter. You deserve nothing more than to rot away in Azkaban for the entire rest of your existence. And no one will even care to see you gone, because you’re nothing to them. Nothing but a means to an end. Tom was that means too, but now look at him. If he could be replaced then so could you, because he’s worth about a hundred of you, and-”

Avery jammed his wand up under Susanna’s chin. “Just keep talking, you psycho bitch, I dare you,” he growled. 

Then he was suddenly flung backwards, and Tom worried for a moment that Susanna had brought a wand with her afterall, or had even cast some wandless magic out of instinct. But then he realized that Susanna looked equally confused as everyone else, until she was suddenly being wrapped up in an intangible hug with Myrtle. “Susanna! I was so worried for you! I thought that I’d never see you again!”

Susanna tried to return the hug, but her arms just passed through the ghost. She cleared her throat. “So, uh, you don’t think that I killed you?”

Myrtle floated back a little bit, and shook her head earnestly. “Of course not! I may not have seen my killer’s face, but I know that you would never do anything to hurt me! And I know for sure that it was a man’s voice talking before everything happened, and last time I checked, you do not sound like a man.”

Susanna smiled. “Thanks.”

“It’s true,” Myrtle insisted. “You have a very feminine voice.”

“No, I meant, thanks for knowing me well enough to know that I’m not a murderer.”

Tom couldn’t help smiling to himself as he watched the reunion of the two best friends. He knew that Myrtle’s death had been very hard on Susanna, but then so much else had happened that she probably hadn’t really had any time to just sit down and process it all. Unfortunately, he was too distracted to react when Avery flicked his wand in Susanna’s direction, and wordlessly cast a brightly colored spell in her direction.


	47. Chapter 47

Avery’s spell was stopped by a shield charm before it could hit anyone, and the professors were all rushing over to the Slytherin table in a desperate bid to figure out what was going on. Tom looked around to see who had cast the shield, but there were so many people around with their wands in their hands that it was hard to figure out right away.

Susanna turned to look at the professors, slowly raising her hands up over her head to show that she wasn’t a threat to them. “He just tried to kill me, and he can’t claim self defense because I didn’t do anything to make him think I was threatening him. He is the murderer here, not me.”

The professors all looked slightly at a loss as to what they were supposed to do. Tom figured that it was because what to do when facing an escaped convict who was a student accusing another student of murder probably didn’t come up during the teacher training. “It’s true,” Tom said in a loud, yet calm, voice. There wasn’t actually any evidence that he could whip out, though. The best he could do was offer his support, and hope that his word as one of the top students in the school would be enough to help. Tom looked straight at Professor Green, the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. “Jon Avery killed Headmaster Dippet.” Based on the conversation he’d overheard after first discovering the headmaster’s body, he knew that the professor had been close with the man, and would hopefully want to do whatever he could to apprehend the real killer.

Green’s wand arm wavered, and he opened and closed his mouth several times as if he were gearing up to say something, but didn’t know what to say. Dumbledore was the first professor to actually speak, while the rest all continued to stand there with their wands out, looking unsure of themselves. “If all of you would please accompany me to my office right now, we can talk about this matter somewhere more private.”

Tom nodded once, and then turned to look at Avery with one eyebrow raised. If the other boy threw a big fuss now and refused to go, it would only make him look worse. And if he did go, then maybe there was a chance that they’d all be able to actually get justice. Avery clenched his jaw, and gave a single jerky nod. 

Before turning to lead the involved students away, Dumbledore focused on a spot by the teacher’s dining table, where Tom noticed for the first time that Emilia was casually lounging around, leaning back against the wall, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world. “And who might you be?” He asked in a voice that almost sounded mockingly polite.

Emilia blinked a few times, then stood up straight and walked over to be closer to where the conversation was. “A guest,” she answered in a soft voice. 

“I see. Well, perhaps you were not aware, but we do have rather strict guest policies around here. If you wouldn’t mind coming to my office as well, I’m sure that we can sort something out.” There was a pleasant look on his face, though Tom was pretty sure that if Emilia were to refuse, things would get very crazy very fast.

Emilia was probably smart enough to realize the same thing. Either that, or she knew that it would be best to be in the office while everything else went down to keep an eye on Susanna. She nodded once, and crossed her arms over her chest, then stared at Dumbledore blankly instead of saying anything out loud.

If Dumbledore was unnerved or confused by her behavior, he didn’t let on. Then Dumbledore turned to the rest of the Great Hall, where everyone was staring at the Slytherin table and only speaking in hushed whispers with each other. “I can assure you all that you have nothing to worry about. You are all perfectly safe here. Please go back to your meals and your conversations.” Then he nodded towards the small group and started towards the doors. 

Susanna gave Tom a small smile, and then after a brief moment of hesitation, reached over to grab his hand, linking their fingers together. Myrtle floated along on Susanna’s other side, while Sirius and Avery trailed behind. Tom glanced over to the Ravenclaw table for a moment, and saw Henry watching everything with wide eyes. He stayed seated, though. Maybe he knew that his prejudice as Susanna’s brother would make his word nearly useless. Though Henry previously hadn’t seemed to care about such a thing. Then Tom watched as Henry turned to his friends and began speaking animatedly, and Tom realized that Henry was probably going to try and sway the student body to be against Avery and for Susanna. It was smart, because if Susanna came back and everyone treated her like a murderer, she’d be miserable here.

The small group arrived in Dumbledore’s office after a few minutes, and the headmaster summoned a couple of extra chairs to make sure that everyone could sit down. And then had to summon an additional chair when Myrtle insisted that she be able to sit as well, even though she mostly just hovered over the chair while posing in a sitting position. 

Dumbledore leaned back in his seat, and stared at the six people in front of him, peering over the top of his glasses at them. He said nothing, clearly waiting for them to begin. Avery leaned forward to slam his hand against the top of the desk. “This is bull! I didn’t do anything wrong! That bitch confessed to murder during her trial! She can’t just take it back now because she realized that jail isn’t fun!”

Susanna narrowed her eyes, and spoke in a steady voice, addressing her words to Dumbledore rather than Avery. “The only reason I confessed was because Avery threatened to frame Tom if I didn’t, sir. I didn’t want anything to happen to Tom because I care about him deeply, so I put on an act. But now I’ve realized that all I did was make everything worse and let a real murderer get away.”

Avery snorted. “She’s only doing this because she’s a muggle born who’s been known to openly spend time around pureblood haters. She wants to get rid of all of us. That’s why she’s trying to turn this all around on me.”

“Did you even check her wand?” Emilia asked in a bored voice. Everyone looked over at her in surprise, somehow having forgotten that she was there. It was a pretty great talent to be able to fade into the background even in such a small space, and Tom was impressed.

Dumbledore just raised one eyebrow curiously. “Excuse me?”

Emilia rolled her eyes. “Her wand, before it was confiscated, did you check its history? Even if she cast a thousand other spells after allegedly committing two murders, there would be proof of it on her wand. Unforgivables are sticky like that.”

Tom gasped. Firstly because he couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to not ask the same question himself, and second of all because he realized why a wand check would have never come up. “Fredwin- Professor Fredwin- would have taken away her wand after he first ‘apprehended’ her.” He glanced at Susanna for confirmation, and she nodded. 

Avery shrugged. “Who cares who took the murder weapon?”

Tom looked at Dumbledore. “Fredwin is a purist or something. He hates muggle borns. And he has a more personal reason to target Susanna specifically.”

Susanna furrowed her eyebrows. “I’ve never even had him before,” she said softly. 

Tom hated that he was going to have reveal this personal information in this situation, in front of an audience, instead of having explained it all to Susanna at some point during their return trip from France, but he knew that it was too important to leave it all unsaid now. “Fredwin is Susanna’s biological father.”

“What are you talking about?”- “That’s impossible!”- “You’re insane!” Three voices rang out at once as Myrtle, Avery, and Sirius all reacted to the announcement. Susanna and Emilia both remained silent, though it was impossible to tell ust from their faces what they were thinking. 

Dumbledore was clearly taken aback, and despite the situation, Tom couldn’t help feeling a tad victorious at actually being able to take the man by surprise for once. Dumbledore always prided himself on knowing everything that was going on, but for once, he had no idea. Tom took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “He told me himself, when I discovered that he has an entire photo album of his relationship with Tolli Matheus. It’s probably still in his office if you didn’t give him a chance to clear anything out before going on leave.”

Emilia cleared her throat. “Not that I’m saying he’s a liar or anything, but even if that turns out to not be true, there is the fact that our grandfather is Gellert Grindelwald on our mother’s side, which means that we come from a magical lineage, so the muggle born argument is still pretty dumb.” Then she shrugged once. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true about Susanna, and probably Henry too, having a different father.” There was an amused look in her eyes as she continued. “Before you ask- yes, I did say ‘our grandfather’ and ‘we’. I’m Emilia Matheus. The youngest sibling.”

Once again, it seemed as though they’d managed to surprise Dumbledore, and after a short pause, he nodded once. “I see.” The look of confusion only lasted for a few seconds though, and then it was quickly hidden away so that he could maintain that annoyingly cheerful and condescending look that he wore so well. “If Fredwin lied about what was on that wand, then it is unfortunately too late to look into that. Miss Matheus’ wand was destroyed upon her guilty verdict, as is tradition for any witch or wizard sentenced to more than five years in Azkaban. If you have any other evidence to offer-”

“You can’t seriously be saying that you believe them!” Avery burst out. “They’re all liars and cowards!” He narrowed his eyes, and gave Tom a calculating look before turning back to the headmaster. “If unforgivables are really ‘sticky’ or whatever, then you don’t have to look further than his wand to see exactly what kind of person he is! He’s cast the cruciatus curse on me more times than could possibly be good for my insanity.”

Tom showed no outward reaction to the accusation, because he’d always been good at putting on masks, but on the inside, he was cursing himself for not thinking of how this could all be turned around onto him. Of course there would be no record of the killing curse on his wand, but even casting one unforgivable was enough to warrant jail time. 

Emilia snorted loudly. “Are you seriously going to try and claim that the school golden boy is somehow an evil torturer person? If that was true, why would you have never reported him before? If he really cast such things, you had to have known that it would be quite apparent upon a simple check, and that he’d be immediately booted, so fear of retaliation wouldn’t make any sense here.” She looked over at Tom, that bored expression still on her face. “Go on, hand over your wand. Let it be checked as many times as you want. We all know that you’re too big of a sissy to ever cast an unforgivable.”

Tom tried to laugh aside the slight, while quickly analyzing everything Emilia had just said. Obviously she had to know that he was perfectly capable of casting dark magic- or at least, he had been before. Thanks to his unbreakable vow with Henry, he couldn’t exactly go around hurting people now. Not that he would consider Avery of all people to be innocent- but that was a matter for another time.

The point was that Tom was pretty sure Emilia was on his side, if only because she was on Susanna’s side, and knew that he was important to Susanna. She wouldn’t just throw him under the bus. If she was telling him to let Dumbledore search the history of his wand, then she must have had reason to believe that it wouldn’t show anything illegal on it. 

All of those thoughts passed through Tom’s mind in less time than it took to blink, and then he offered a small smile before pulling his wand out and putting it down on Dumbledore’s desk. “If it will help expedite a case against Avery, then I’d be more than happy to let you take a look and see that he’s the one lying here.”

Even though there was a pleasant look on his face, Tom was feeling a bit nervous on the inside, since he wasn’t actually aware of any way for someone to give false results when it came to checking the history of a wand. Dumbledore gave Tom a long look, reminding Tom of the fact that the headmaster had never believed in his ability to be good, not since the day they’d first met and Tom had asked if it was normal to be able to speak with snakes. 

But whatever Dumbledore saw on Tom’s face was apparently satisfactory, because the left the wand on his desk and pulled out his own to cast the history spell on it. Dumbledore stared intently at whatever results were being displayed for his eyes only, and then after a minute, waved his wand once to make the results visible to everyone in the room. “The- younger- Miss Matheus was correct about the way unforgivable curses stay ‘stuck’ to a wand’s history, and as you can clearly see, Mr. Avery, there is no record of any unforgivable curses, or any other dark spells here.” He cancelled his spell and nodded for Tom to be able to pick his wand up again.

Tom held in his sigh of relief, and then looked over to Emilia, intending on giving her a silently communicated ‘thanks’ for whatever it was that she’d done to protect him here. But he saw her staring at Dumbledore with wide eyes. “Is everything okay?”

She cleared her throat once, and then shook her head, keeping her eyes glued to Dumbledore, before finally blinking and looking away. “Yeah, fine. I thought that he- nevermind. Anyways, Avery is a liar when accusing Riddle of being a torturer, which makes it hard to believe him on the matter of Susanna being a murderer, don’t you think?”

Myrtle spoke up for the first time, rising a few inches higher than before. “And once again, everyone forgets to ask Myrtle about what she thinks. Because let me tell you that Susanna Matheus has been my best friend since the first day that we met, and she’s never done anything but fight for me. There’s no way in hell she’d ever do anything to hurt me, not even by accident. And even if I didn’t see my killer’s face, I did hear their voice. I can say with one hundred percent certainty that it was a male. Definitely a guy’s voice talking in that hissy language.”

Dumbledore and Emilia both immediately looked to Tom, and he shook his head. “I didn’t-”

“This is an outrage!” Avery shouted. “Why are you all talking about stupid things instead of focusing on the fact that you caught an escaped murderer in the school, coming after me!”

Susanna leaned forward in her seat to peer past Tom and Sirius and look at Avery. “You’re joking, right? You’re the one who tried to kill me just because I wanted to talk to you.” She looked at Dumbledore. “If he can accuse Tom and get his wand checked, then can’t you at least check his wand when you have so many people accusing him?”

There was an apologetic look on Dumbledore’s face. “Unfortunately, I could only check Tom’s because it was voluntarily handed over. Unless Mr. Avery is actually arrested, it would be unlawful to take his wand and check it.”

Myrtle suddenly zoomed up and over Susanna, Tom, and Sirius, and then dived down to stand right where Avery was sitting, causing him to start violently shivering. “I know you killed me, and I’m not going to leave you alone until you hand over your wand. A confession under duress probably wouldn’t count but you handing over your wand under duress shouldn’t matter because all the activity on your wand would be from before I started standing here.”

Avery looked like he was going to be violently ill as he looked over at Dumbledore. “She can’t do this, can she?” His voice came out sounding much more shrill than usual. 

Dumbledore blinked once before shrugged. “Unfortunately, there is no lawful jurisdiction over ghosts. It’s why dark wizards and criminals are not punished after death. As she is incapable of causing any true harm beyond discomfort, it is not my place to interfere.”

Tom’s eyes widened infinitesimally. Dumbledore may not like him, but apparently he was actually on Susanna’s side, for some reason or another. They all watched as Avery jumped up out of his chair to walk away, and Myrtle kept pace with him, never fully breaking off contact between them.

Then Avery pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it towards himself, before realizing that if he tried to curse Myrtle it would only hurt him because they were standing in the same space, and of the two of them, he was the only one who was corporeal. His nostrils flared, and he grit his teeth, before finally flinging his wand over to Dumbledore’s desk. 

Myrtle peeled away from Avery, and went back to hovering over her chair next to Susanna. Avery stood by the door of the office, watching with panic slowly creeping over his face as Dumbledore began to look at the history. Almost immediately, he raised both eyebrows, and then turned to point his wand at Avery. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about the unforgivables that I can see, or the dark curse that you cast in the Great Hall just tonight.”

Avery turned to make a run for it, but Dumbledore was much faster, and stunned the murderer. He then turned to look at the others. “I apologize in advance if you are kept awake past curfew, but I do need you all to stay here while the authorities come.” He blinked a few times, and then focused on Susanna. “I certainly don’t approve of your methods, but I cannot deny that there are noble intentions in wanting to protect loved ones.” Then he levitated Avery up and motioned for everyone to stay put while he left the office.

As soon as he was gone, Tom grinned, and turned to Susanna, wanting to give her a big kiss despite the fact that they weren’t alone. But she had her arms crossed over her chest, and an unhappy look on her face. “Tell me what you know about my dad.”


	48. Chapter 48

Tom cautiously explained everything he knew to both Susanna and Emilia, who listened intently. He didn’t actually know very much about the situation at all, other than the basic facts that Fredwin had let slip in his drunken state. He made sure to stay calm and not try to reach for Susanna even though he wanted to. 

When he finished, he stared at the two sisters with wide eyes, hoping that Susanna wouldn’t be too angry with him for not saying anything sooner. “There was so much else going on,” he tried to explain, sounding desperate even to his own ears. “I’m so sorry I never told you.”

The next couple of seconds seemed to last an eternity before Susanna finally responded. “I’m not mad at you. I can’t imagine being put into a weird situation like that. And no matter what my blood might say, I know that my dad is the man who raised me. But I just…”

“It’s hard to accept that our mom’s a whore, our dad’s a chump, and her birth father is a total loser creep who did his best to get her thrown in jail,” Emilia offered in a bored voice.

Susanna shoved at her sister’s shoulder. “Emilia!” she hissed. “Don’t say that stuff!” Then she hesitated for a moment. “Well, I guess that part about Fredwin is pretty accurate. But- well- even if Mom did cheat, I know she still loves Dad, and she still loves us. And- god, she probably still thinks I was confessing to murders that I actually committed. She must hate me now.”

Emilia glared at Tom like it was somehow his fault that Susanna had arrived at that conclusion, and then she turned sideways to stand between Tom and Susanna. “You can’t really think that. I’m sure she still loves you. And I’m sure that once she hears the news that you aren’t actually a murderer, she’ll definitely get over any minor grudges that she may have previously held. I mean, she didn’t hate you after your letter got me killed, right?”

Susanna stared at her sister with wide eyes. “I swear I never meant for-”

“I know, I was just joking.” Then Emilia glanced over her shoulder at Tom again. “So since Henry isn’t here, I guess that leaves it to me to be the one to ask. What exactly are your intentions with my little sister?”

“I’m older than you,” Susanna hissed.

“I’m taller,” Emilia shot back. “And technically this body is older than yours.” Then she focused back on Tom. “So I’m going to ask you again, Mr. Riddle. What are your intentions with my sister?”

This had to be more nerve-wracking than the infamous ‘meeting the in laws’ that people always whine about. Probably because Emilia was more intimidating than a pair of non magical people could ever be. He kept his voice calm and even. “I don’t know what the future is going to hold, but I know that I want to be with Susanna for as long as she’s willing to be with me. What else could you possibly want to hear?”

Emilia shrugged. “I suppose that will do. But I will have to confer with Henry before I give you a one hundred percent pass.”

Susanna shoved at her sister’s shoulders. “Oh just shut up already. I don’t need you and Henry looking after me. I’m perfectly capable of choosing a good guy for myself.”

One corner of Tom’s mouth slid up into a sly grin. “You think I’m a good guy?”

“Unless you’re going to give me any reasons not to.”

Tom’s grin widened, and then he looked over at Emilia. “I’m not sure what you did to my wand, but whatever it was, I’m grateful.”

Emilia arched one eyebrow, looking rather amused, before pulling two wands out of her pocket, one of which looked identical to Tom’s, and the other was the one Susanna had gotten during her escape. “Apparently being able to clone these things is something of a family success.” She tossed his wand towards him, and as soon as it was in his hands, Tom could tell that it was, in fact, his real wand, and the one in his pocket was just the clone. “I’m pretty good at going unnoticed when I want to. Swapped them out before you boys even returned to the castle, so that there would be enough spells backlogged to not look suspicious.”

Tom felt simultaneously amazed with Emilia for being able to pull that off, and having the foresight to do so, and also annoyance with himself for not having noticed he was using a cloned wand the past couple of weeks. Either way, though, he was grateful for her help, because without it, he would’ve been completely screwed. He gave her a polite nod of acknowledgement, and then Susanna finally jumped towards him. 

Before the two of them could do much more than exchange a brief hug, Dumbledore had returned to his office, and was giving all of his guests an assessing look. “These circumstances have been most unusual. But the minister is willing to give Ms. Matheus a retrial in light of the new evidence that has been brought up against Mr. Avery.” His gaze shifted to focus entirely on Susanna. “Everyone will want to hear a good reason for you having acted the way you did during your original trial. A lot of uncomfortable facts may be brought up.”

Tom gave Susanna’s hand a comforting squeeze, and her eyes flicked over to him to show her gratitude for just a second before landing back on the headmaster. “Exactly what kind of information do you mean?”

“The exact nature of your relationship with your maternal grandfather, for one.” He nodded towards Emilia. “Her existence. To have gotten passed the castle wards, and the fact that she claims to be your younger sister, who should only be nine years old even if she had not tragically passed away-”

“I am definitely Emilia Matheus,” Emilia interrupted. “As for how or why I’m here in the exact way I am, does that really matter to the case? I was not a part of Susanna’s life during her original trial, and wasn’t even in the country when Myrtle and Diphead were killed, so me being here is entirely irrelevant.”

It seemed to take Dumbledore an exceptionally long time to take in what he’d just been told, but then he finally just nodded once. “I see.” The same dull answer he’d given when Emilia had first announced herself. “Perhaps you’re right. In any case, I’m afraid that Susanna will have to accompany the authorities until the time of her retrial. Hopefully it will not take longer than a week or two for everything to get sorted out. I’ll give you a minute for your goodbyes.”

He left, and then Sirius got up from where he’d still been seated. “I’ll go bother him to get you some more time,” then he hurried after the headmaster. 

Even though Myrtle was a ghost, she and Susanna made the motions of going through with a hug, and then she promised that she’d still be waiting in the castle to talk whenever Susanna got back. That just left Tom, Susanna, and Emilia. Susanna gave Tom a small smile before looking at her sister. “I know you’ve already put everything off longer than you wanted to, and it’s really selfish of me to even ask you, but would you wait? Just until I’m back here for sure. Please? I just want to know that you’ll still be here when I’m free.”

Emilia shrugged. “I suppose if I have to, I can wait. It’ll take time to gather up everything I need anyways.”

Susanna furrowed her eyebrows. “But it was all just things that you could get any-”

“Definitely a long time to gather everything,” Emilia said like she was confirming something. “Maybe even years and years. Guess you’ll be stuck with me until then.”

Susanna’s shoulders slumped down in relaxation, and she pulled her sister into a tight hug. “Thank you so much,” she whispered. Emilia returned the hug, looking only slightly awkward, and then she stepped outside of the office. Susanna turned to look at Tom. “So it’s really all over, huh?”

“Yup. Just a trial as a formality, really. Before you know it, you’ll be back here causing problems. Flying brooms and knocking around library books and being a general nuisance. And I will definitely be waiting for you here, and so will your brother, and everyone else. You’re going to be just fine, I promise.” It felt strange to make such a promise. Just a year ago, it never would have occurred to Tom to say anything like that at all. He’d had to fake his way through every conversation just to make sure everyone felt like he was a real person. He’d thought that he was so much better than everyone else that there was no point in even trying to pretend otherwise. He’d never have imagined he’d be capable of feeling things beyond contempt, and for so many different people. 

When Susanna smiled up at him, Tom felt a slight flutter in his chest, and they exchanged a short kiss, knowing that while they didn’t have much time at the moment, they’d have plenty of time to be together once everything was finally done with. And for once, there was something in Tom’s life that he couldn’t wait for, and it wasn’t just something that would give him lots of power. 

He was happy, and it was something he never would have expected to be possible. He had friends, and he had someone he really cared about in a way that words might never describe, and the future was looking bright. “I’m glad I met you,” Susanna whispered, even though they were the only two in the office. “I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you in it.”

“I’m sorry I got you mixed up in so much garbage, but I won’t deny that I’m glad to have met you too. I really like you, Susanna. And you make me very happy. I can’t wait to see you again as soon as possible.”

They hugged, and then Susanna pulled away to head towards the door. “It’s probably best if I cooperate and stay on everyone’s good sides right now.” Then she left, leaving Tom alone in the office. He looked around the space that Dumbledore had clearly had no problem making his own, and wondered if Dumbledore was just the same as him. Pretending to be a normal person so that no one would realize just how far from normal he was. 

But that was something that didn’t really matter, so long as the man continued to help him. He just needed to make sure that Susanna was okay, and for the moment, she was. And hopefully she had a bright future ahead of her as well. Tom smiled to himself, and it was a genuine smile, not a facade put on as some strange form of entertainment. Tom was happy, Susanna was safe, and everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!


End file.
